Rivalry
by VentusWind78
Summary: Astrid's family has been after the throne of Berk since it's founding. Finn Hofferson was intended to take the chiefdom, but his unfortunate fate with the Flightmare tarnished the family name. Looking for redemption, and with parental pressure, Astrid takes it upon herself to put Hiccup in his rightful place, until he suddenly thwarts her every attempt to rise in Dragon Training.
1. Chapter 1: The Raid

**NOTICE: The story is rated T for a couple of mildly graphic scenes. The first one is in this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 1: The Raid**

_**Hiccup's POV**_

This is Berk. For the most part, it's a relatively decent place to live. There's a nice forest to stroll in, several cliffs to watch the sunsets from, and of course the village itself. From the docks situated at the bottom of a cliff, a wooden ramp winds its way up, through, and around the village until it comes to the plaza. Meade Hall, an imposing building built into a mountain, sits on a hill opposite the ramp. The houses of the most important families sit around the plaza, along with the forge. Despite the village being three hundred years and seven generations old, every single building is new. We tend to have to rebuild a lot, considering the pests the village is constantly plagued with. While other places would have mice or mosquitoes, we have…

…dragons.

I slammed the door shut after peeking outside and finding a Monstrous Nightmare about to torch my front door. I could feel the heat on my back as flames licked and danced around the edges of the wood. Knowing Gobber needed me at the forge, I quickly opened the door again, made sure the Nightmare was gone, and dashed out of the house, right into a dragon raid, and shouts for me to get inside and out of the way.

"What are you doing out?!"

"Get inside!"

"Get back inside!"

Suddenly, I felt a jolt as I was lifted off my feet by my vest. Even at sixteen years old, I'm scrawny enough to be lifted by most regular-build Vikings.

"What is he doing out again- what are you doing out?! Get inside!"

As much as I wanted to argue that I couldn't get to the forge to do my job without going outside, no one argues with Stoick the Vast, chief of our tribe. He put me down and I quickly raced over to the forge while listening to the report of dragons sighted.

"What've we got?"

"Gronkles, Nadders, Zipplebacks, and Hoark saw a Monstrous Nightmare."

"Any Night Furies?"

I slowed just a little, listening both for the answer and the signature whine of the most elusive dragon known to Vikings.

"None so far."

"Good."

Slightly disappointed, I entered the forge just as a dragon flew overhead, setting the roofs of a dozen houses alight. Dragon attacks every other month meant we had to rebuild, meaning every building had been rebuilt at least once in my lifetime.

"How nice of you ta join the party! I thought you'd be carried off!"

I rolled my eyes as I took off my vest and tied my apron around my waist.

"C'mon Gobber, we both know the dragons around here wouldn't be interested in all…this."

I spread my arms, subtly gesturing to myself.

"Well, they need toothpicks, don't they?"

I snorted. "If they needed toothpicks, they'd go after the woodpiles as well as the food."

Gobber just shook his head as he switched his hammer attachment for his ax. He'd lost his left arm to a dragon shortly before I was born, and his right leg shortly after. Despite his attitude, Gobber's been more supportive to me than anyone else in the village, including my father.

"Man the fort Hiccup, they need me out there!"

As he started towards the door, Gobber suddenly turned around and pointed at me.

"Stay. Put. There. You know what I mean."

And with a yell, he hobbled off into the night.

I tried to keep myself occupied by sharpening swords and handing out bolas and replacement weapons from the service hatch, but I couldn't stop straining my ears, listening for a particular whine.

Suddenly, one of the houses close to the forge exploded, and the fire crew rushed in to get the fire under control. All the other teens my age were on the crew, but my dad hadn't let me join due to my un-Viking size and lack of strength.

As they poured buckets on the blaze and turned around to refill, I caught sight of their faces. Fishlegs Ingerman, a blonde, husky boy who was obsessed with dragon information, but didn't particularly care about killing them; Snotlout Jorganson, a smug, stocky, black-haired boy that thought everything he did was a blessing to us all. He was also my cousin, unfortunately. Then there're the twins, Ruffnut and Tuffnut Thorston; they were spitting images of each other, with long blonde braids on either side of their heads, mostly because they thought cutting it would be a crime to Loki, whom they worshiped. But the last teen, a blonde girl with her hair in a long, single braid over one shoulder, blue, steely eyes that would make some grown men call for their mothers if they were caught in her glare, wearing a blue shirt, spiked shoulder pads and a spiked skirt with metal skulls around the waist, was the only person in the village that I shared a mutual hatred with.

Astrid Hofferson, head of the fire crew, and Berks resident shieldmaiden, seemed to think she was more worthy of being the next chief than I was. When Berk was first settled, the Haddocks and the Hoffersons had been the first two clans to settle on the island, and when a chief needed to be decided, the head of each clan had fought for the right. In the end, my ancestor had won, and the Hoffersons have held a grudge against my family ever since.

The Hoffersons were always trying to get their eldest into the chiefdom, but the closest they ever got since Berks's founding was with Astrid's uncle, "Fearless" Finn Hofferson. Finn was an incredible blacksmith and swordsman and had won dragon training with his age group. He was supposed to challenge my Dad for the chiefdom, and he had planned on killing the only dragon more elusive than the Night Fury: the Flightmare. This glowing dragon only appears once every ten years, coinciding with a phenomenon of lights pulsating in the sky called Arvandil's Fire. But when the dragon appeared, "Fearless" Finn froze, presumably of fright, earning him terrible nicknames such as "Fearful" and "Frozen." Since Finn's death, Astrid has been determined to become the best Viking on the island, and simultaneously show me as the worst.

So far, she's been doing pretty well at both, which is why I glared at her as she passed by the forge with a confident smirk.

"Need any help in there Haddock? Are you actually in there to work, or are you just hiding from the dragons?" Astrid taunted.

I growled and glared as I felt the heat in my face rise, and not just from the flames outside. "I'm doing just fine Hofferson, but then I don't need four other people to help me sharpen a sword." I gestured to the other teens behind her.

Astrid snorted. "You probably need at least ten other people to hold up the sword with those wimpy arms of yours."

My face and ears burned, and I looked away as Snotlout and the twins laughed. "I-I'm s-stronger than y-you th-think."

Although I couldn't see it as I stared at the floor, I could practically hear Astrid roll her eyes. "Yeah right, if you were you'd be out here defending your village like a chief would instead of cowering in the forge."

I looked up as Astrid and the other teens walked away, and Fishlegs looked back and gave me a small smile of encouragement. I quickly looked away again and went back to sharpening the sword on the grindstone; I didn't need fake pity from them.

As I picked up the next sword to sharpen, I heard it; a faint whistling in the wind, growing louder as the creature making it got closer.

"NIGHT FURY!"

"GET DOWN!"

In a flash of purple light and a loud BANG, one of the watchtowers creaked and collapsed, sending the Vikings on top of it to the ground.

The only thing that Astrid hates more than me or the Flightmare is the Night Fury. About five years ago, Astrid's older brother, Gunnar, had been on the fire crew during a particularly nasty raid. Gunnar had been Astrid's idol; he had been there for her when Finn passed. The raid that night was supposed to be the last one of the season; for reasons unknown, dragons rarely if ever raided during the coldest months, which is when we hold Dragon Training to train the youth of the village to fight the demons. Gunnar had been fourteen, the minimum age for Dragon Training, and had been trying to put out a fire near a watchtower with some younger kids. The tower was already unstable from the flames licking its support beams, and then a high-pitched whistle had alerted the village to the approaching Night Fury. Gunnar had quickly ushered the other kids away, but he was still too close to the building when the purple explosion had hit. When the raid ended and the dust settled, the villagers had found Gunner lying face down in the dirt, a bloody gash on his head, and a large chunk of stone lying next to him. I hadn't been allowed out of the forge at the time, but the shrill scream I heard when Astrid discovered his body still haunts my dreams sometimes.

Dropping the sword I was about to sharpen, I raced back to a curtained off part of the forge that Gobber let me use as my workshop; there was parchment all over the walls and desk with designs and inventions I'd thought up over the years, but I was after one thing in particular. After searching through a pile of scrap bits and pieces, I dragged out my bola launcher, a cylindrical device mounted on two wheels and a handle like a cart. Not bothering to take my apron off, I grabbed the handle and started pushing it out of the forge and towards one of the hills on the edge of the village.

"Hiccup, what are you doing?!"

"Get back to the forge!"

"Yeah, I know! Be right back!" I yelled.

At the top of the hill, I stopped, opened the contraption, loaded the launcher, and waited for the perfect shot.

"Come on, give me something to shoot at, give me something to shoot at…" I muttered.

A couple of seconds later, I heard the distinct whine of the Night Fury and saw a flash of purple hit another watchtower. Heart pounding, I quickly aimed the launcher at a speck of black illuminated by the flames and pulled the trigger. The rebound was strong enough to knock me over, and as I fell, I heard the definitive sound of a bola wrapping around something, and a screech of anger as something fell towards Raven Point.

Disbelief quickly changed to excitement as I realized I had just shot down the one dragon that no one's ever seen. "I-I hit it?! Yes, I hit it! Did anybody see that?!" I had finally done something that even Astrid Hofferson couldn't, but my victory was short-lived.

As I stood up and turned around, I found myself face to face with the same Nightmare that had been at my door earlier.

"Except for you," I muttered.

The Nightmare roared in my face, and I screamed and ran, not caring about anything except getting away from that dragon. I didn't have any weapons on me, and my bola launcher only carried one shot, so I was basically on my own.

I ran towards the plaza and hid behind one of the large torches we used to see the dragons' dark shapes in the night sky. I tensed and crouched as I once again felt the heat on my back. When the heat died a bit, I carefully looked around the pillar, only for something to bat the dragons head away from my other side.

I turned and saw Stoick, my father, hitting the Nightmare's head with his war hammer. The dragon tried to fire at him, but it only managed to spit a few small embers at him.

"You're all out," Dad said as he walked forward and bashed his hammer against the Nightmare's head repeatedly, until the dragon finally shook its head in a daze and flew off, following the rest of the swarm, most of which were carrying animals or baskets of food.

As the dragons retreated, Dad turned and stared at me. I could see the frustration and disappointment in his eyes, and I knew what he, and probably the rest of the village, was thinking; I had screwed up, again.

As if to prove this point, the torch I had been hiding behind creaked and bent where the fire had melted it, crashing into the ground and rolling down the hill. I winced and flinched as villagers cried out and dodged the rolling bowl of flames. "Sorry, Dad."

I wanted to tell him about the Night Fury, how it went down just off Raven Point, how we should send a search party after it, but I knew he wouldn't listen. So instead I just said, "I-I guess I'll head back to the house…"

Dad nodded. "Gobber, make sure he gets there. I have his mess to clean up…again."

I felt Gobber's remaining hand on my shoulder as he guided me up the village to my house. Unfortunately, we passed the other teens, and Astrid looked particularly smug.

"I've never seen someone mess up that badly," she taunted, "That actually helped!"

"Thank you, Hofferson, I was trying," I shot back, face red in shame.

Gobber gave her a dirty look, but no one would dare hit Astrid, at least if they wanted to keep their limbs, or at least their remaining ones.

I wanted to go out to look for the Night Fury as soon as possible, but Gobber held me back at my front door. "Why weren't ya at the forge lad? There were many without weapons for the last little bit."

I looked down at my feet, not wanting to meet his gaze. "I just wanted to prove that I could do something to help…"

Gobber sighed and patted my back. "If you want to get out there and fight dragons, you need to stop all…this." He waved in my general direction."

I looked up at him, annoyed. "You just gestured to all of me!"

He hesitated, hand fiddling with his stone tooth. "Look, lad, I know ya want to prove yerself to tha village, and especially to Astrid and Stoick," I scowled at Astrid's name. "Oh don' look at me like tha' lad, you know it's true." I did, but that didn't mean I had to like it.

"At this rate, Dad probably won't even let me IN dragon training, so he might as well just make Astrid his heir; it'd probably be better for everyone anyway," I grumbled.

Gobber opened his mouth to say something, but I turned around and closed the door behind me, leaned against it, and sighed. I waited until I heard Gobbers footsteps retreating footsteps, then went upstairs to my room, grabbed my notebook and charcoal pencil, and went out the back door; I had a Night Fury to find.


	2. Chapter 2: The Night Fury

**Chapter 2: The Night Fury**

_**Hiccup's POV**_

Walking through the woods gave me a lot of time to think, particularly about what Gobber had said about me wanting to prove myself to Astrid. I had absolutely no reason to; she's not the one who decides who's the heir. But as I got to thinking about it, maybe if we didn't hate each other so much, she might be a nice friend…or something more.

I mentally slapped myself. "Dammit Hiccup, that's not gonna happen in this life or the next, so don't even go there."

I was so caught up in my thoughts, I didn't notice the low-hanging branch in front of me until I walked into it. "Ow!"

I looked up and noticed that the tree the branch was part of looked…odd. It looked like something large had slammed into it, breaking the tree in half. And then I noticed how the tree led to a large gouge in the earth as if something heavy had slid along it at high speed. I carefully followed the gash in the ground until it went over a hill. Taking a deep breath, I looked over the edge, gasping and ducking back down as soon as I saw the dragon. I didn't think it saw me, so I peeked over the hill again to look more closely.

At the bottom of the hill, a jet-black dragon was tangled up in a bola. Its wings were large and bat-like, one of them sticking out at an odd angle. Its body was sleek and streamlined, with four paws that could lay flat against its body, and a narrow head with four flaps that I assumed were ears. The tail was long and sinewy, with a single tailfin on the right side and two smaller tailfins above it.

Later the single tailfin would strike me as odd, but at that moment I was in awe. This Night Fury was built for speed and stealth in the darkness; it's no wonder that no one ever saw one up close…until now. Slowly, I walked closer, pulling a small knife I made myself out of my vest. The Night Fury must have heard my heavy breaths as I approached, because when I was a couple of feet away its eyes opened, staring at me, and I froze.

The few times my dad took me out hunting, back before he was disappointed in me every day and I thought Astrid's ambition was silly, he would trap the game and try to have me deliver the final blow. He said it would build character and make it easier once I was fighting dragons. But every time, the poor creature would stare at me, fear and hopelessness in its eyes, and I'd lose my nerve. I'd always make up some excuse for how I wasn't ready, and Dad would slit the animal's throat in front of me. He'd make me promise that I'd be ready the next time, but I just couldn't bring myself to harm another living being.

I thought dragons might be different, seeing how they took my mother away before I was a year old and were constantly stealing our food, but as I stood over the Night Fury with my knife in hand, I saw the same fear and desperation as the animals from the hunting trips, but there was something else. It was almost like intelligence; like the dragon knew exactly what situation it was in and didn't know how to get out of it.

If dragons were legitimately mindless animals like my dad and every other Viking in the archipelago said they were, then the intelligence that I saw in the Night Fury's eyes would've been wild, barbaric; but instead, it looked controlled and collected, almost as if its intelligence was on par with a human.

As I was pondering the emotions I saw in my head, the Night Fury closed its eyes with a low moan and laid its head back down, resigned to its fate.

I immediately knew I couldn't kill the beast if I could even call it a beast anymore. I'd let it go, and maybe, with a large dose of luck, it would starve to death, and I could find its body and take its heart to my father. Killing dragons while defending our village is one thing, but harming a somewhat innocent creature trapped in a bola net with no way to defend itself was cruel and cowardly.

I kneeled and started sawing at the ropes holding the dragon down with my knife, careful to avoid its scales. When the third rope snapped and the whole net loosened, I suddenly found myself on the ground with a black paw on my chest and a very angry dragon snout in my face. Breathing hard, I turned away slightly and braced myself for the worst, thinking I was probably the worst Viking ever and Astrid deserved to be the heir. The dragon reared up, slammed its front paws on the ground to either side of me, and *roared.* Satisfied I had gotten the message, the Night Fury stepped back, crouched, and took off over my head. I got up and turned around just in time to see it swerve to the left, roaring in frustration.

I stood up carefully, grabbing the knife that had fallen from my grasp as I was pounced on, and started walking back towards the village on wobbly legs. I had only taken a couple of steps before I dropped my knife again and fainted.

* * *

Several hours later, just after nightfall, I peeked around the door to my house, spotting Dad at the fire and cursing silently. I didn't want to talk about the raid this morning, so I quietly entered and closed the door softly, heading towards the stairs up to my room.

"Hiccup."

I froze, halfway up the stairs, and said, "Dad! I uh, I have to talk to you, Dad."

"I need to speak with you too, son," Dad said.

We both started talking at once and stopped after realizing it. "Uh, you go first," Dad said.

"No, you go first," I responded.

Dad took a deep breath and started, "All right. Tomorrow morning, I'm taking a group out to search for the Nest. You and the other teens will start Dragon Training with Gobber."

I rubbed the back of my neck nervously, knowing how well the searches for the Nest ended. "Yeah, about that, I was thinking maybe you should just make Astrid your heir, and keep me out of Dragon Training, maybe working full time for Gobber at the smithy, or training me in bread making,"

Dad just laughed. "You think I'd just hand over the village to the Hoffersons just because of all…this?" He waved his arms in my general direction.

"You just gestured to all of me," I grumbled.

"You'll need this," Dad said as he dropped an ax in my arms that nearly knocked me over. "Train hard, I'll be back. Probably."

"And I'll be here. Maybe." I said nervously as Dad walked out the door, thinking of how much abuse I was probably going to get from Astrid and the other teens.


	3. Chapter 3: Dragon Training

**Chapter 3: Dragon Training**

**_Astrid's POV_**

"Welcome to Dragon Training!" Gobber announced as he opened the gate to the Kill Ring.

"No turning back," I muttered to myself as I led the other teens (minus Hiccup; he probably won't even show up) into the Ring.

The Kill Ring is a large, circular structure near the edge of the forest, away from the village. The gate is at the bottom of a slope leading into the pit of the Ring. The top of the pit is covered in iron bars, preventing any dragon from escaping during a fight. Surrounding the barrier are wood platforms for the village to watch the fights from, with a raised platform for the Chief and the Elders to oversee the pit.

On the inside walls of the pit are several large doors, barricaded with logs standing upright in metal hoops. These are the pens we keep dragons in for training.

Tuffnut, naturally, had to say, "I hope I get some serious burns!"

Ruffnut agreed, "I'm hoping for some mauling on my shoulder or lower back!"

Rolling my eyes, I said, "Yeah, it's only fun if you get a scar out of it."

A sarcastic, nasally voice behind us grumbled, "Yeah no kidding, right? Pain, love it!"

I turned around, slightly surprised to see Hiccup slouched at the tunnel to the Ring, clutching an ax.

"What are you doing here, Haddock? Wanted to give me an easier win?" I smirked.

Hiccup glared at me, which I only let go because Gobber was in the vicinity; everyone knows he has a soft spot for Hiccup.

Gobber must have sensed the tension, because he hastily got between me and Hiccup, guiding him to the other end of the line of teens as he stated, "Let's get started! The recruit that does best will win the honor of killing his-" I cleared my throat, "-or her first dragon in front of the entire village!" I cleared my throat again, louder. Rolling his eyes, Gobber added, "An' if Astrid or Hiccup wins, they will be declared Heir to the Throne of Berk, with all the rights an' privileges, blah blah blah." Gobber gave me a bored look as he said this as if he thought I was trying to start a civil war or something. I just smiled sweetly back.

"Behind these doors are a few of the many species you'll learn ta fight," Gobber explained while walking past the doors, naming a dragon as he went.

"The Deadly Nadder…"

Fishlegs was practically shivering with excitement about the useless knowledge he spewed, "Speed eight, armor sixteen…"

If Gobber heard him, he didn't show it. "The Hideous Zippleback…"

Fishlegs' eyes went wide. "Plus eleven stealth times two…"

Gobber raised an eyebrow at Fishlegs, but went on; "The Monstrous Nightmare…"

"Firepower fifteen…"

Scowling, Gobber moved to the second to last door. "The Terrible Terror…"

Fishlegs voice had gradually gotten louder, and now he was practically shouting, "Attack eight, venom twelve!"

"Will you stop tha'!" Gobber rolled his eyes as he got to the last door, placing his hand on the lever to release it. "And, the Gronkle."

Fishlegs leaned over to Hiccup and whispered very loudly, "Jaw strength eight."

Seeing Gobber's hand on the lever, Snoutlout started panicking. "Woah, woah, aren't you gonna teach us first?!"

Gobber gave his infamous mischievous grin, saying what I already knew, "I believe in learning on the job!"

He thrust the lever down and the Gronkle burst forward, hovering and growling aggressively as we scattered.

Gobber decided now was the perfect time to explain what we were doing; "Today is about survival. If you get blasted, yer dead."

As if to illustrate this point, the Gronkle turned towards the least Viking-like person in our group; Hiccup.

"Quick! what's the first thing yer going ta need?!" Gobber shouted.

"A doctor?" Hiccup asked sarcastically, running from the dragon as fast as his thin legs could carry him. Sometimes I wondered if he was actually a Viking.

"Plus five-speed?!" Fishlegs yelped, trying to get the dragon's attention away from Hiccup.

Rolling my eyes, I stated, "A shield."

Gobber nodded. "A shield, go!" We all ran around the arena where several shields were scattered.

"Yer most important piece of equipment is yer shield," Gobber walked over to Hiccup, who, naturally, was having a hard time putting his shield on one arm with his ax in the other. Gobber grabbed the shield and shoved it onto Hiccup's arm, pushing him towards the rest of us. "If ye have to choose between a sword and a shield, take the shield."

As I picked up a shield and put it on, I noticed the twins grappling over a shield. Typical. All the noise they were making caused the Gronkle to change targets. It flew over and blasted the shield out of their hands, knocking them both over.

"Ruffnut, Tuffnut, yer out," Gobber announced.

They both groaned and moved towards the closed gate.

Gobber continued the lesson. "Each dragon has a limited number of shots; how many does a Gronkle have?"

I never was too good at the detailed numbers about dragons like Fishlegs, so I took my best guess. "Five?"

"No, six." Hiccup said, smirking at me. I glared back.

"Correct! Six! That's one for each of ye!" Gobber praised.

"Those shields are good for another thing: noise!" the smithy continued, "Make lots of it to throw off a dragons aim."

We all started banging our weapons on our shields, and the Gronkle started shaking its head in irritation. It somehow managed to charge a shot and fire, randomly hitting Fishlegs' shield.

"Fishlegs, out." Gobber droned.

Fishlegs threw his weapon up and ran for the gate, screaming as the Gronkle shot another blast at him. And of course, Snotlout chose now of all times to hit on me.

Being Hiccup's cousin, Snotlout was technically second in line to be heir if Hiccup screwed up, but I had other ideas, and no one liked arguing with me; at least if they valued their limbs. Unfortunately, this also meant that if Hiccup and Snotlout couldn't be heir, Snotlout got it into his head that he'd just marry me and be chief that way. The very idea made me want to hurl my ax at a tree, but Snotlout was a true Viking; stubborn and persistent.

On the plus side, it distracted him enough for his shield to get blasted by the Gronkle and declared out by Gobber. Snotlout sulked over to the gate where the others were waiting.

I found myself standing next to Hiccup as we watched the Gronkle eat some more rocks on the ground.

"Guess it's just you and me, huh?" he asked nervously.

I grinned. "Nope, just me!" We both ducked as the Gronkle fired a shot over our heads, and I yelled, charging the dragon with my ax raised as it readied its last blast.

"Astrid!"

A split second before the beast fired, I felt a weight on my waist and was on the ground as the shot sailed harmlessly over me where my head had been just a second ago. Hiccup quickly let go of me and scrambled to his feet, blushing. Gobber hooked the dragon by its lower jaw and dragged it back into its pen.

"You'll get another chance, don't ye worry," he said as he patted the now closed door.

Hiccup offered me his hand to help me up, still blushing, but I slapped it away and got to my feet, glaring daggers at him.

"Remember!" Gobber was saying, "A dragon will always, always, go for the kill."

He looked at me seriously, and I nodded in understanding. Satisfied, Gobber herded the other teens out of the Ring, leaving me and Hiccup.

Hiccup started to follow Gobber, but I got in his way. "What the Hel were you thinking Haddock?!" I growled. "I had it under control!"

Hiccup wouldn't meet my glare. "I-I know, I know, b-but I couldn't just stand th-there and watch-"

"Watch what?! Did you think it would've killed me? Me?!" I snorted.

Hiccup shrugged, still avoiding my eyes. He walked past me, and I was about to ask him where he thought he was going when he bent down and picked something up.

"What are you-" I stopped as he turned around and handed me my ax, still avoiding my gaze.

"I think I'm perfectly capable of picking up my own weapons, Haddock," I sneered.

Hiccup finally looked up at me, his eyes cold and hard. "You know, I was thinking this whole feud thing was stupid, and maybe you were actually a decent person, but I guess I was wrong."

I took half a step back, slightly startled. Hiccup never stood up to anyone, especially not me. I opened my mouth to put him in his place, but he spoke over me, "I told my dad to keep me out of training and just make you heir, but his pride wouldn't let him."

I raised my eyebrow, not believing a word of it. "Really? And when was this?"

Hiccup turned away, avoiding my gaze again. "Last night, before he went to look for the Nest."

He shook his head. "You don't understand, Astrid. You never have the problem of struggling to live up to your name. You don't screw everything up while trying to help. Hel, you're even beautiful, while I'm just…" He gestured to himself.

I only heard one word, and it made my blood boil. I shoved Hiccup against the wall, my ax pressed against his neck, seething. His eyes widened in terror, and rightfully so. "No one, no one, calls me beautiful," I growled. "I'm a Viking, a shield maiden; you're just a low Fishbone that doesn't deserve to talk to me." I grabbed the neck of his tunic and pulled my ax away, throwing him to the ground behind me. Ignoring Hiccup's gasps for breath, I stormed out of the arena, looking for some trees to throw my ax at.


	4. Chapter 4: Flightless

**Chapter 4: Flightless**

_**Hiccup's POV**_

As Astrid stomped out of the Ring, I shakily got to my feet, wondering why she snapped so hard at the compliment. I knew she didn't like Snotlout hitting on her, but did that mean no one was allowed to comment on her looks?

I shook my head. It's not like it matters anyway, I thought while walking out of the Ring and back towards the village, She'll probably hate me forever just because of my last name.

I had just reached the edge of the village where the forest began when a thought occurred to me; Gobber had said that dragons always went for the kill, but the Night Fury hadn't. Frowning, I turned towards the forest and made my way towards the cove, being careful to skirt far around the angry yells of a certain blonde Viking throwing her ax into trees.

* * *

A short time later, I was back at the bent tree just off Raven's Point. Looking around, I suddenly remembered how the dragon had taken off, swerving to one side as if it had been out of balance. I turned to my left and walked forward carefully, not knowing where the dragon was.

I soon reached the edge of a large depression in the forest floor, with rocks piled near the edge and a small lake in the center. The cliff surrounding the lake was probably thirty meters tall, and the only way down without falling was the pile of rocks in front of me. There was also a small grove of trees on the far side of the depression, and there were fish splashing in the lake.

I hopped down between two large boulders near the top of the cliff and examined the cove, looking for any sign of the Night Fury. "Well this was stupid," I muttered to myself, not seeing anything remotely dragon-like. Then the sunlight reflected off something small in front of me, and I reached out and picked it up. It was small, black, and extremely hard, circular in shape and it seemed to suck the daylight from around it.

Suddenly, a large shadow fell over me, and I fell back, gasping in surprise. Above me, the Night Fury was scrambling to hook its claws on something solid, but it just fell back towards the ground, roaring in frustration, and gliding over the lake to the other end.

I realized that this was the first time anyone had really seen the anatomy of a Night Fury, so I pulled my notebook and charcoal pencil out of my vest and started sketching the dragon from a top-down viewpoint.

"Why don't you just…fly away?" I wondered aloud as I finished the sketch and looked up to see the Night Fury scrambling at the top of the cliff on the other side of the cove. Grumbling, the dragon finally gave up and glided back to the cove floor, giving me a better look at it. I suddenly realized that my sketch was inaccurate; I had drawn two tailfins, but the dragon only had one. I rubbed the left tailfin off my sketch and looked down at the dragon sadly.

Without realizing it, my hand had relaxed enough to let my charcoal pencil fall. I tried to grab it, but it fell off the rock I was on and landed on the ground with a soft plink. The dragon and I both froze, and the Night Fury turned around to find the source of the noise, looking up at me when it saw me. My heart started beating faster, but I realized the dragon didn't look aggressive; it just looked wary, as if I might attack it. Curious, I tilted my head to the side, and the Night Fury copied me, a curious look in its eyes like we were both wondering what the other was thinking.

A loud crack of thunder startled us both, and the Night Fury growled and ran into the grove. I looked at the sun, realized how late it was getting, and started running back to the village, stumbling over roots and fallen branches as the rain started coming down.

* * *

Gobber had told us to meet in Mead Hall during dinner, so I cautiously closed the large, wooden doors behind me and started picking up a plate of food, flinching as I heard my name.

"Where did Hiccup go wrong?" Gobber asked as I tried to sit between Fishlegs and Snotlout. The latter, of course, laid his hand on the bench and shook his head, grinning smugly. I rolled my eyes and went to the table further from the group.

"Uh, he showed up," Ruffnut drawled.

"He didn't get eaten," Snotlout added.

Astrid gave me a weird look, and said, "Hiccup's not the one who went wrong today, I was."

Not sure I had heard correctly, I dropped my fork on my plate and turned my head to stare at her, gaping. The other teens obviously weren't expecting the response either and were all staring at Astrid as if she'd gone insane.

Astrid just rolled her eyes. "If Hiccup hadn't tackled me when I was charging the dragon, I'd probably be roasted all the way to Valhalla."

Snotlout, of course, went to her defense, "No no, that was so, Astrid!"

Astrid just glared at him as Gobber went on, "She's right! Ye have to be tough on yerselves! Ye can' just make a rash decision like tha' and think everything will turn up fine an' dandy!" He walked around the table and clapped his remaining hand on my shoulder, nearly making me face-plant into my plate. Gobber then picked up a book from the shelf behind him and let it fall onto the teens' table with a thud.

"The Dragon Manual," Gobber explained, "Everything we know about every dragon we know of." The Hall suddenly shook with another crack of thunder, and Gobber narrowed his eyes, saying, "No attacks tonight, study up."

"Wait, you mean read?!" Tuffnut looked absolutely horrified at the idea. I honestly wasn't sure he even could read.

"While we're still alive?!" Ruffnut sounded just as disgusted as her twin.

"Why read words when you can just kill the stuff the words tell you stuff about?!" Snotlout complained.

Fishlegs, of course, had read it several times already and started spewing facts about random dragons, until Tuffnut decided he'd had enough and shoved the bench away from the table, stood up and walked out of the Hall with Ruffnut, Snotlout, and Fishlegs right behind him, Fishlegs still spouting random facts.

I continued eating, thinking I'd just read it when everyone in the Hall left, but Astrid stood up and walked over to me. I stiffened, remembering our conversation after training.

"Look, Hiccup…" she began, absently playing with her braid nervously, "I didn't mean to snap at you like that earlier; it's kind of a habit whenever Snotlout says something similar…"

I nodded in understanding, but apparently she wasn't finished, as she took a deep breath and continued, "Look, I know our parents aren't exactly friendly, but I am grateful for what you did today."

I just shrugged, not meeting her gaze. "You would've done the same if it had been anyone else in that position, except maybe me…"

Astrid just shook her head. "That's the point, you didn't care about who was in danger, you just…acted."

I started to say something, but then Astrid grabbed my tunic by the neck, and I was flashed back to our conversation earlier. "Of course, this means you're ahead of me in Dragon Training, and that just won't do." she sneered.

Silly me, for thinking Astrid Hofferson of all people could show remorse. Suddenly feeling a spurt of bravery, I met her gaze and snarled, "Maybe I should've let you join your brother after all."

Astrid's eyes went wide with shock and hurt, but quickly returned to their regular death glare. "Stay out of my way Haddock, and maybe I won't banish you when I'm chief." She shoved me back into the bench and stormed out of the Hall, into…well, the storm.

* * *

A couple of hours later, the Hall was mostly empty except for me and a couple of drunk Vikings snoring in a corner. I grabbed a candle flickering near me and brought it over to the Manual, wondering if my idea was even plausible.

As I opened the book and scanned the classifications, I wondered what class the Night Fury would be in. Probably not a Stoker Class, its flames more resembled plasma then fire; definitely not a Tidal Class, its build was more streamlined for air than water; I doubted it would be a Sharp or Tracker class, the scale I had found was smooth, unlike a Nadder's quills, and the Night Fury's snout didn't look large enough to track anything substantial. The dragon definitely wasn't bulky like the other Boulder Class dragons. That left Mystery and Strike Classes, and while the dragon was definitely a mystery, the way the Night Fury targeted our catapults specifically, and rarely if ever missed, led me to believe the dragon was a Strike Class. I supposed it could've been a Fear Class, but the way it looked at me earlier with more curiosity than animosity, I doubted it. I pulled my notebook out of my vest and flipped to the page after the sketch I'd drawn earlier, writing down my thoughts about the dragon's classification.

I slowly turned the pages of the Manual, reading about various dragons; some I'd seen and others not. After a few pages ending with "Extremely dangerous, kill on sight," I started flipping faster, but every page ended the same way until I got to a mostly blank page at the end of the book.

Heart pounding, I read aloud, "Night Fury; size unknown, speed unknown; the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself. Never engage this dragon; your only chance, hide, and pray it does not find you." As if to prove the origins of the dragon, a lightning flash lit up the hall for a split second, followed by a loud crack of thunder. The drunk Vikings in the corner woke up and started swearing at each other, thinking the other caused the start of Ragnarok, but after a couple of minutes they both fell back asleep.

I closed my notebook and the Dragon Manual, putting the Manuel back on the shelf and my notebook in my vest. I went to the doors and stared at the downpour for a second, then bolted towards my house, getting soaked through to the bone after just a couple seconds.


	5. Chapter 5: The Nadder

**Chapter 5: The Nadder**

_**Astrid's POV**_

The door to my house slammed behind me as I walked in, soaked from the storm, and more than a little surprised, confused, and hurt from what Hiccup had said. Maybe I should've let you join your brother after all… I tried to tell myself that he wouldn't have, but the fact that I almost killed him over a simple word made me wonder If he actually hated me as much as I thought I hated him.

I shook my head and walked upstairs to my room, grabbing an extra fur on the way to properly dry myself off. My dad was off with the search party looking for the Nest, and my mom was probably already asleep. I softly closed the door to my room behind me and started stripping from my wet clothes, laying them on the floor to dry. I changed into dry undergarments and got into bed, still thinking about Dragon Training and Hiccup.

I thought about our conversation in the Ring before I had snapped, and it had seemed like he actually cared about my well being, even though our families were supposed to hate each other. I wasn't sure if my parents knew about Hiccup saving my life, but they probably wouldn't be happy about it. I was supposed to be the perfect Viking, saving everyone else single-handedly; Hiccup was supposed to be the weak fishbone that couldn't do anything right.

I groaned and rolled onto my side, staring out the window. I desperately needed sleep, especially for Dragon Training in the morning, but I couldn't calm my mind enough to fall asleep. Eventually, my eyelids closed and I was haunted by visions of a brown, stocky dragon opening its maw and preparing its final shot, with an auburn-haired boy standing off to the side, staring at me with cold, dark eyes.

* * *

I woke up the next morning feeling like I hadn't slept at all. Yawning, I slowly got out of bed and got ready for the day. After putting on my spiked skirt and shoulder guards, I went downstairs and grabbed a bit of bread and cheese to eat on my way out. I picked up my ax, strapped it to my back, and walked out the door towards the Kill Ring.

Upon arriving, I noticed that all the other teens, including Hiccup, were already there, waiting for Gobber to open the gate. Hiccup glanced at me with a neutral expression, but said nothing. I just nodded in his direction as Gobber came up behind me and started opening the gate. We walked through and Gobber closed the gate behind us while still on the outside.

I wondered why for a second, then looked around the Ring and noticed there was a maze of wood walls set up. I grabbed a shield next to the wall and got ready for whatever Gobber had in store for us today.

Gobber moved around the edge of the spectators area to a handle that controlled one of the pens doors. Grinning devilishly, he pulled the lever as we cautiously entered the maze. "Today is all about attack!" Gobber called while the distinct squawk of a Deadly Nadder rose from the pen. "Nadders are quick and light on their feet. Your job is to be quicker and lighter."

As we all ran around the arena, simultaneously trying to avoid and chase the Nadder, Gobber continued the lesson. "Look for its blind spot, every dragon has one; find it, hide in it, and strike."

I noticed Snotlout peeking around the corner of a wall and walked slowly to stand next to him, but the second he saw me, he grinned and said, "Stand back babe I'll take care of this." Snotlout proceeded to jump around the corner and throw his mace to the right of the Nadder, missing by nearly four feet. The Nadder glanced at the mace and back at Snotlout, chirping in such a way that it sounded like it was laughing.

I glared at Snotlout as I ran past, but he chased after me, trying to defend himself, "The sun was in my eyes, Astrid," he whined, "What do you want me to do, block out the sun? I could do that, but I don't have time right now!" I glanced back and noticed the twins trying to hide in the Nadder's blindspot at its nose, but naturally, they started arguing about bathing and giving each other their own blindspots, until the Nadder finally saw them and shot a blast over their heads.

"Blindspot, yes; deaf spot, not so much," Gobber chuckled as the twins quickly escaped the Nadder.

I noticed movement in the corner of my eye and turned to see Hiccup crouching in front of me, gesturing to me to be quiet. He peeked around the corner, then quickly dashed to the other side of the intersection, with Snotlout right behind. Hiccup looked at me and gestured for me to follow, but I peeked around the corner and looked at the dragon, thinking about Gunnar and Finn's fates at the hands (claws?) of dragons.

"YAAAAAHHHHH!" I shouted as I ran towards the Nadder with my ax raised. Hearing the commotion behind it, the dragon turned and shot a white-hot blast at my raised ax, completely destroying the blade and turning the weapon into a half-charred stick. Before I could even think about what had happened, the Nadder squawked angrily and charged. I quickly turned around and started running back, but it was gaining rapidly, and just as it would have caught me, I heard a thud and a draconic grunt of pain. I turned around to see Hiccup with his ax held out, the flat of his blade towards the retreating dragon, as if he'd somehow managed to swing it with his toothpick arms.

"Well done, Hiccup," Gobber praised as he locked the dragon back in its pen.

Hiccup turned to glare at me.

"Is this some kind of a joke to you?" he hissed, "You can't really expect to be able to down a dragon with brute force alone, can you? You're good, Hofferson, but not that good."

My face started burning with anger and embarrassment at not only being beaten by Hiccup again, but his audacity to lecture me. "At least I wasn't cowering around a corner, Useless," I shot back.

Hiccup's eyes widened and he visibly shrank back at the nickname. I almost felt guilty; I didn't really think he was useless, but I was super frustrated with being beaten by him twice that I had stooped to a new low. "In that case, maybe I won't make you a new ax," he mumbled, staring at the ground.

I had almost forgotten about my ax, which was now little more than a stick in my hand. I just rolled my eyes, tossed the stick aside, and walked out of the Ring, ignoring the whispers of the other teens behind me.


	6. Chapter 6: Toothless

**Chapter 6: Toothless**

_**Hiccup's POV**_

I walked through the forest almost in a daze. Astrid didn't usually call me useless, but I guess that's what happens when you're saved by a fish-bone twice in one week. I sighed heavily as I entered the cove, wishing that _someone_ understood how I felt.

I glanced around, but couldn't see the Night Fury anywhere, so I sat down on a rock near the entrance and took a fish out of my vest. I was about to bite into it when I heard a rumble from behind me. I froze and slowly turned my head around.

The Night Fury was crouched on a boulder just behind the rock I was sitting on, staring at me. I stood up slowly and backed away, but the dragon dropped from the boulder and followed me, glancing at the fish in my hand. Hesitantly, I held the fish out, but the Night Fury growled and glared at my waist. Then I remembered I still had my dagger on me. I cautiously pulled the dagger out and dropped it to the side, but the dragon growled again and tossed his head at the lake. I slid my boot under the knife and kicked it towards the lake, landing with a splash.

Satisfied, the Night Fury sat on its hind legs like a cat, pupils wider than I'd ever seen them. I held out the fish again and the dragon leaned forward, sniffed the fish, and opened its jaws, revealing rows of gums without teeth.

Confused, I wondered aloud, "Toothless? I could've sworn you had-" Two rows of wickedly sharp teeth shot out of the dragon's gums with a _shink_, and I whipped my hand away as the dragon bit the fish, tilted his head back, and swallowed the fish whole. "-teeth," I muttered as the dragon licked its chops.

Sniffing, the Night Fury approached me, looking for more fish. I stepped backward until my back hit the rock I had been sitting on and slid to the ground.

"Uh, no, no no, I don't have anymore," I whispered.

The Night Fury looked at me for a second, then went cross-eyed and started making a weird chuffing noise. A second later it opened its mouth and dropped half of a half-digested fish in my lap.

I stared at the dragon, and it stared back at me as it sat back on its haunches. After a few seconds, it looked at the fish, then back at me. I didn't do anything, so it looked again, this time licking its chops and making a slurping sound.

I finally understood what it was trying to tell me, and stared at the fish in disbelief. I didn't think the dragon would let me go without taking a bite, so I brought the fish up to my mouth, trying to ignore the raw fish smell, and took a bite.

It was disgusting. Not only was the fish raw, but it was slightly warm from the dragon's stomach. I offered the rest of the fish to the Night Fury, but it just made a swallowing gesture at me.

I grimaced, thanked all the gods I could think of that Astrid and the others wouldn't know about this, and swallowed, trying very hard to make sure it didn't come right back up.

The Night Fury licked it's chops again, and I gave it a somewhat delusional grin. The dragon squinted for a second, and then the flaps of its mouth that resembled lips started peeling upwards in what was unmistakably a grin. Awed, I reached towards it, but the dragon growled and bounded off to the other side of the cove, blasting a patch of grass and settling down, curling its tail so the remaining tail-fin covered its face.

I quietly walked over to the dragon and sat near the tail. I scooted closer to reach out and touch it, but before I could, the dragon lifted its tail and I sheepishly walked away. I glanced back to see the Night Fury grumbling as it climbed a tree and hung bat-like from its tail off a branch, wrapping its wings around itself.

I sat down on the rock again, thinking. The dragon obviously wasn't hostile, as long as I didn't have any weapons on me, and it ate that fish as if it hadn't eaten in days. Then it hit me: the dragon _hadn't_ eaten; it couldn't fly, so it couldn't hunt, and that also meant it probably couldn't fish. Guilt crashed over me and threatened to pull me into a sea of misery, but at that moment I became determined to help the Night Fury fly again, whatever it took.

As I watched the black shape in the tree, I pondered naming him. At first, I wasn't confident in any name, but then I remembered how his teeth had retracted and made him appear toothless. "Toothless," I muttered, "I think it fits, albeit ironically."

With that out of the way, I pulled my notebook and charcoal out of my vest, turned to a blank page, and started drawing designs for an artificial tail-fin.

* * *

A few hours later, I was sketching in the dirt with a stick when I heard a huff behind me. My eyes widened, but I continued drawing, adding ovals as eyes and ear-flaps. I heard a curious croon, and then the sound of something stomping away. I turned around to see Toothless snapping a branch off the nearest tree and bringing it over to where I was. He tilted his head sideways and pressed one end of the branch into the dirt, then started dragging the branch around me, creating squiggles in the dirt and almost whacking me with the branch.

Toothless stopped a few feet away, dropped the branch at his feet, and nodded with a croon, as if he was satisfied with the jumble of lines in the dirt. I stood up and turned about, trying to see if there was any rhyme or reason to his picture, when suddenly Toothless growled lowly at me. I froze, looked down, and realized I had stepped on a line. I lifted my foot, looking at him, and Toothless returned to crooning softly. Touch, growl; lift, croon. I smiled and started weaving my way through the drawing, careful not to step on any lines.

As I reached the edge of the drawing, I heard a chuff behind me and froze. I slowly turned around and looked up to see Toothless, his eyes wide and wary, staring at me. I started to reach out to touch him, but he growled and pulled back slightly. I figured I should let Toothless make the first move, so I turned my head away and held out my hand, palm facing him. After a few seconds, I felt warm, smooth scales press into my palm. I cringed a little out of instinct, but I turned around to find Toothless with his eyes closed and snout pressed into my hand. He pulled back, huffed, and turned to dash to the other side of the lake. I curled my fingers into my palm and I brought my hand back, as if I was trying to impress the memory of Toothless' scales into my palm. I stared in wonder at the dragon on the far side of the cove, questioning everything I had ever been taught.


	7. Chapter 7: Bonfires and Axes

**Chapter 7: Bonfires and Axes**

**_Astrid's POV_**

Instead of eating at Meade Hall that night, Gobber took me and the other teens up one of the abandoned watchtowers and had us start a fire in the middle. He had also brought fish and chicken with him and sticks to roast them on.

While we roasted our meals, Gobber launched into the tale of how he lost his limbs…again. Almost everyone on Berk had either been there or had been told the story so many times they might as well have been. I ignored him for the most part, concentrating on not burning my fish; I wasn't very good at cooking anything.

"…an' with a twist of his jaw, he took mah hand, an' swallowed it whole. I saw the look on his face: I was delicious!" Gobber recalled while gesturing with his hook, "It must have passed the word because it wasn't a month before another one of 'em took mah leg." At this, he stuck out his peg leg.

"Wasn't it weird to think that your hand was inside a dragon?" Fishlegs wondered, "Like if your mind was still in control of it, you could have killed it from the inside by crushing its heart, or…something…" he trailed off and shrank back as the rest of us just stared at him.

"I swear I'm so angry right now!" Snotlout grumbled through clenched teeth, "I'll avenge your beautiful hand, and your beautiful foot. I'll chop off the arms and legs of every dragon I fight; with my face!" He tore off the leg of the chicken he was holding, as if to prove his point.

Gobber shook his head as he took a bite out of his own chicken. "Nah, it's the wings and the tails ya really want. If it can't fly, it can't get away; a downed dragon is a dead dragon."

We nodded and went back to our food. I was checking to see how done my fish was when I noticed an extra fish and empty seat near Gobber. "Wait…where's Hiccup?" I asked.

Gobber raised his eyebrow at me. "He said he 'ad a special order to fill at the forge an' wouldn't make it tonight," he explained, "Yer not missing him are ya?"

I glared at him, and grumbled, "I just wondered if he'd eaten is all."

Gobber nodded. "Aye, someone ought to take the lad this fish I saved for him." He looked at me.

I sighed and grumbled, "Fine. As long as it's already cooked." Mine had been underdone, and as much as I disliked Hiccup, I didn't want to give him food poisoning.

Gobber nodded and handed me the fish wrapped in a cloth. I bade everyone good night and headed down the steps, listening to Tuffnut brag how it was his destiny to kill the Nightmare. I snorted at that thought, thinking Hiccup had a better chance than him, but then frowned when I realized Hiccup did have a better chance; he was in the lead at the moment after all. "Not for long," I growled to myself.

I walked quickly towards the smithy, noticing the light from the forge, and knocked against the doorframe to let Hiccup know I was there. The sound of hammering stopped and Hiccup appeared, sweaty and wary.

"Astrid? W-What are you doing here?" he asked nervously.

I raised my eyebrow and crossed my arms. "You weren't at the bonfire, so I brought you dinner." I stepped forward and handed him the cloth.

"Oh, uh, t-thanks," Hiccup mumbled as he unwrapped the fish.

I was about to turn around and head home, but then Hiccup said, "Wait, I-I have something for y-you."

"Oh?" I said, raising my eyebrow, "What is it?"

Instead of responding, Hiccup turned and disappeared into the back room, which Gobber had let him use as his privet workshop since he'd started apprenticing. I heard him rummaging through something, and then he came back out holding an object behind his back. "I-If I give this to you, p-promise me y-you won't chop my h-head off," he stammered.

I rolled my eyes at him and nodded, wondering why he would say that when my ax had been destroyed that morning. Then the pieces started clicking together, and my eyes widened. "Wait a minute…" I started, but Hiccup had moved his arms around in front of him, and my jaw dropped.

Hiccup was holding a double-bladed ax, almost exactly like my old one but shinier and sharper. The etchings along the handle that had long worn away on my old ax were sharp and fresh, standing out against the dark wood. The blade was even sleeker than the old one, with fresh engravings on each side, detailing the history of the Hofferson clan.

He held the weapon out to me, and I stared at him. "You made this…for me? Why?" I asked, stunned.

Hiccup shrugged, looking anywhere but at me. "I-I guess I just think this whole family r-rivalry is ridiculous," he muttered, "And, y-you know, you probably s-shouldn't walk into Dragon Training defenseless."

I frowned. "What are you saying?"

Hiccup took a deep breath and looked up, staring straight at me. "I'm saying I never wanted to be heir."

I suddenly remembered how he'd told me about his conversation with Stoick after he'd saved me from the Gronkle. "What does that have to do with the ax?" I asked, looking back at the weapon in his hands.

Hiccup just rolled his eyes and muttered, "Do you want it or not?"

I glared at him, punched his arm, and snatched the ax out of his hands. I tossed it from one hand to the other, testing the weight, and took a practice swing. It felt different, but not in a bad way. "What did you do to make this feel so right?" I wondered aloud.

Hiccup shrugged and rubbed his arm where I'd punched it. "I did make most of the weapons in the village, I think I can balance an ax. And before you ask, yes I made your old ax too."

I just stared at him, not believing his twig arms could lift a hammer or swing an ax, or even throw a bola. He shifted uncomfortably and turned his emerald eyes from me to focus on a pile of scraps near the forge. "I-I do have other th-things to do, s-so…"

Hesitating, I took a couple of steps towards him and put the ax on a table nearby. Hiccup flinched away, but I grabbed him and pulled him into a hug. He stiffened as if he didn't know what to make of the gesture, but before he could say anything I pulled away and turned around, picking up the ax and trying to hide my blush. "That's thanks for the ax," I said, brushing my bangs out of my face. Before Hiccup could say anything, I dashed out of the forge as quickly as possible, running towards my house.


	8. Chapter 8: Teamwork

**Chapter 8: Teamwork**

**_Hiccup's POV_**

The morning after my encounter with Astrid I woke up in a daze. Had she really…hugged me? I shook my head, determined not to think too much about it, and got out of bed. I quickly changed and grabbed a bite of bread on my out.

I peeked outside, saw no one was awake yet, and hurried to the storage shed, stopping by the forge to get the tail fin on the way. I picked up a large basket of fish, slung it over my shoulder, and tried not to stumble from the weight as I headed into the forest.

* * *

"Toothless…" I called as I walked into the cove, "I've got breakfast!"

I dropped the basket of fish as Toothless slinked towards me, sniffing it.

"I hope you're hungry," I grunted, tipping the basket and spilling its contents with a wet _schlop_.

"Ok, that's disgusting," I muttered, "We've got some salmon, some nice Icelandic cod, and a whole smoked eel."

As I mentioned the eel, Toothless' eyes suddenly turned to slits and he started hissing at the pile. I dug through the raw fish until I held up the eel and Toothless shrieked.

"No? I don't really care for eel much either," I said as I tossed the eel as far away as possible. Toothless' eyes dilated and he dug into the fish pile happily.

While Toothless was distracted, I slowly crept my way around him towards his tail. "That's it, don't mind me, I'll just be back here, minding my own business…"

I laid the prosthetic tail fin in the space where Toothless' left tail fin had been and started scooting it closer, but Toothless kept squirming. I finally had to sit on his tail to buckle the prosthetic in place.

I sat back admiring my handiwork when suddenly we were off the ground with a woosh. I yelled in surprise, and we started veering towards a cliff. I noticed the prosthetic was collapsed, so I clutched Toothless' tail with one hand and yanked the prosthetic open with the other.

We abruptly leveled out and started gliding over the lake. About halfway over, Toothless realized I was still holding onto his tail and flung me off with a splash. But without me to hold the prosthetic open, Toothless fell into the lake too, tearing apart his prosthetic tail fin.

I swam back to shore, ecstatic about my discoveries. I just needed to find a way to hold the prosthetic open.

* * *

"Today is about teamwork," Gobber announced as the arena filled with green gas. "While a wet dragon head can't light its fire, the Hideous Zippleback is extra tricky. One head breathes gas, the other head lights it. Your job is to figure out which is which."

For some reason, Gobber had thought it would be a brilliant idea to pair me with Astrid, who would rather team with a dragon than me. "Stay out of my way Haddock," she hissed, "I don't need your help."

"Completely missing the point, as usual," I muttered quietly so Astrid wouldn't hear.

I heard Snotlout from one side of us as the gassy fog thickened, "If that dragon shows either of its faces…there!"

I was abruptly splashed with the contents of Fishlegs' bucket as Snotlout dowsed Astrid.

Astrid glared at Snotlout. "Hey! it's us, idiot!"

Snotlout just sniggered. "Your butts are getting bigger, we thought you were a drag-OW!" Astrid interrupted him by punching him in the face.

"Chances of survival are dwindling into single digits now," Fishlegs whimpered.

Suddenly, the twins yelled and raced passed us with Tuffnut screaming, "Oh, I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!"

Something hissed by Astrid and she prepared to throw her bucketful of water. The Zippleback head snaked out of the fog that was slowly clearing and went right up to Astrid, who promptly tossed her bucket of water at it. The Zippleback head just stared and gas started leaking out of its jaws.

"Oh, wrong head," Astrid muttered, backing away.

I heard a snapping by my side and turned to see the other head with sparks in its mouth slithering towards me.

"Now, Hiccup!" Gobber called.

I heaved my bucket up and away from me, but the water sloshed uselessly onto the ground between me and the dragon. "Aw come on," I muttered.

Before I could think of anything else to try, the first head started spraying gas in Astrid's face. Astrid started coughing and choking on the foul-smelling gas.

"Astrid!" Gobber shouted.

I ran and jumped between Astrid and the Zippleback, holding my vest open slightly so the dragon could see what was hidden but the others couldn't. The Zippleback hissed and flared its wings as it staggered backward, away from me and towards its pen.

"Back, back! Now don't make me tell you again!" I scolded the dragon, backing it towards the cage, "Yes that's right; back into your cage. Now think about what you've done." I tossed the eel I had hidden in my vest into the cage and the dragon huddled into the opposite corner, hissing.

I closed the cage and turned around to find Gobber and the other teens staring at me, except for Astrid, who was still coughing a bit. I walked up to her cautiously.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

Astrid glared at me and punched me in the arm, hard. "That's for getting in my way again."

I winced and was about to rub my arm when she punched it again, although I could've sworn it was lighter the second time. "That's for…everything else." Astrid turned and walked out of the Ring, followed by the other teens. I shook my head and followed, heading towards the forge to remake the ruined prosthetic.


	9. Chapter 9: Frustration

**Chapter 9: Frustration**

**_Astrid's POV_**

I was sitting at our table eating breakfast the next morning with my mother when a thought occurred to me.

"Mom," I started, "Who made my ax? The one that got destroyed in training?"

My mother gave me a cautious glance and replied, "Gobber did, of course. He makes every weapon in the village."

I frowned. "I thought Hiccup-"

Suddenly, my mother slammed her fist on the table. "That Haddock boy does nothing in that forge other than cleaning and sharpening. If he even tried to make a weapon, it would more likely kill the wielder." She glared at me, daring me to argue.

I just nodded and went back to my food. Maybe Hiccup's right, I thought. Maybe our family rivalry is blown completely out of proportion because of pride.

* * *

When I entered the arena, Gobber informed us that we'd be facing the Gronkle again. We each grabbed a shield as the dragon burst out of its cage and started blasting at us.

Hiccup, of course, stayed near the walls, nervously moving sideways away from the dragon. I rolled my eyes and focused on the Gronkle as it used two of its blasts to eliminate Fishlegs and Snotlout.

As the two boys ran past me towards the exit, the twins were distracting the dragon with both their bickering and shields. I ran towards them to attack, but the Gronkle blasted their shields out of their hands, so I retreated towards Hiccup.

"So…nice weather today, eh?" he muttered nervously.

I glared at him, and he shrank back. I noticed he wasn't wearing his usual fur vest; instead, he had some sort of leather harness on top of his green tunic.

"What's that you're wearing, Haddock?" I asked, raising an eyebrow.

Hiccup glanced down at himself nervously. "Oh, this? It-it's just…Look out!"

I turned forward just in time to see the Gronckle barreling towards me. I didn't have time to put up my ax so I just closed my eyes and braced for impact. Instead of being tackled by the charging dragon, I heard something like a growl and a thump as something heavy landed on the floor. I peeked open my eyes and saw Hiccup standing in front of the dragon, unharmed, with his hand held towards the Gronckle, holding…was that grass? Whatever it was he was holding, it had somehow put the Gronckle to sleep if the snores were anything to go by.

I stared at Hiccup, eyes wide and mouth agape. How did he do that? I remembered the day before with the Zippleback, and suddenly a thought occurred to me; did Hiccup have some power over the dragons? Was he controlling them somehow?

Hiccup turned and avoided my gaze, shifting uncomfortably under all the attention. "W-well if that's a-all, I've got s-some things I need t-to…yeah, s-see you tomorrow!" Hiccup mumbled, turning and almost running out of the ring, the rest of us, Gobber included, staring at his slim form.

* * *

The next day went much the same way. Gobber let out the Deadly Nadder for the second time, Hiccup stayed as far from the dragon as possible, and the Nadder started picking us off one by one. Instead of a maze, however, there were various wooden barriers scattered throughout the arena, just tall enough to hide behind when we ducked.

I was hiding behind one of these barriers when I heard a yelp of surprise come from the other end of the ring. I rolled my eyes and dashed out from behind the barrier, ax raised and shouting a war cry. But before I even got to the Nadder, Hiccup had it on the ground trilling pleasantly. He looked at me and shrugged, and I just glared at him. Hiccup had his regular vest on today, as if he didn't want anyone to know about the leather contraption he had been wearing the day before.

I stomped out of the ring, furious at Hiccup and myself. How had he gotten so good? What was he doing to these dragons? How in Hel's name was I supposed to catch up?

I went to bed late that night after throwing my ax into trees for several hours, wondering when Hiccup Haddock the Useless had become Hiccup the Dragon Conqueror.

* * *

"Meet the Terrible Terror!" Gobber announced as he pulled a lever, releasing a lock on a small flap at the bottom of a larger cage door. A small, yellow dragon darted out, licking its eye and staring at us agitatedly.

"Ha!" Tuffnut scoffed, "It's like the size of my-" Whatever he was about to say, I was silently thankful he had been interrupted, but now he had the dragon trying to bite his nose off.

I raised my ax to try and bash it off, but before I could, the Terror leaped off of Tuffnut and pounced on a random spot on the ground. Confused, the rest of us watched the dragon follow a beam of light reflected from Hiccup's shield as Tuffnut howled, "Oh, I'm hurt! I am very much hurt!"

Hiccup flicked the spot of light at the flap, and the dragon dove in, trapping itself as Hiccup blocked the flap with his foot.

"Wow," Tuffnut muttered next to me, "He's better than you ever were!"

I responded by punching him in his already sore nose, Ruffnut cackling behind him.

Gobber dismissed us and the other teens swarmed Hiccup as we exited the ring, crossing the bridge to the main part of the island. Hiccup suddenly backed up, almost bumping into me, and muttered that he had left his ax in the ring and would catch up with us later.

* * *

After throwing my frustrations at trees for another couple hours, I walked into my home to find my mother waiting for me, standing by the hearth with her arms crossed and a stern expression on her face. I gulped, knowing she probably wouldn't be happy that Hiccup the Useless was beating me in dragon training.

"Astrid Hofferson," she scolded, "What in Thor's name are you doing in the ring, being beat by that Haddock boy?"

I shuddered at her tone, but I wouldn't back down. "I'm doing everything right!" I exclaimed, "Hiccup just keeps doing some weird things with the dragons…"

"No excuses!" Mother said, talking over my explanations, "We both know that you should be on top, yet you aren't. If you want to remain a Hofferson, you will figure out what that boy is doing, and make sure he stays out of your way."

I stared at her open-mouthed. My own mother just threatened to disown me if I didn't win dragon training. Was everything I had worked for in my life up to that point not good enough?

My mother had become almost unbearably strict after Gunner passed into Valhalla. He had been the one to teach me how to use an ax, but my mother made it part of my routine. I would wake up, eat, head to the forest to train, return home for lunch, then do my other chores. That's how my life has been for the last five years.

I know Mom had originally hoped Gunnar would take over the village, but she had never been this intense with him. Granted, she wasn't from Berk, and her village had been destroyed by dragons as she left, so I had no idea what her culture had been like.

Even so, I started to wonder if she blamed Stoick for Gunnar's death and was getting me to take it out on Hiccup. I scowled at her and went up to my room to get ready for bed.


	10. Chapter 10: Discovery

**Chapter 10: Discovery**

**_Hiccup's POV_**

"Alright bud, let's take this nice and slow," I muttered as I opened the tail fin.

The past few days have been wild. As I worked on variations of the prosthetic tail fin, Toothless taught me so much more about dragons than the book of dragons ever could. I learned about a soft spot under their chin that makes them drop onto the ground, purring in bliss when scratched. I found a field of grass that Toothless had been obsessed with, rolling around in the stuff for hours. I discovered by accident that dragons like to chase reflections of light by holding my hammer just the right way and Toothless pouncing at the spot.

The prosthetic tail fin was less fun to figure out. The first one was ripped apart when Toothless crashed in the lake, so I had to make a new one, accounting for the fact that something had to hold it open in flight. I didn't want to have to cling to his tail for dear life every time we flew, so I built a saddle, measuring his neck and upper back so it would fit comfortably. I don't know what Toothless thought when he first saw it, but he wiggled his tail and proceeded to make me chase him around the cove, tongue lolling as I ran after him.

After the saddle came the issue of control. I first tried tying a rope to the fin and pull it in the direction I wanted, but that quickly fell apart as I yanked it the wrong way and was flung off of Toothless. So, in the end, I made a complicated rig of gears and rods that connected a pedal on the left stirrup to the tail fin, moving the prosthetic as I moved my foot.

After that, I tied a rope to the saddle and a stump on a cliff, having Toothless hover as I documented what each position of my foot did with the prosthetic.

All that was left after that was to test the contraption for real.

Toothless and I were gliding over a bunch of sea stacks on one end of the island, making sure we were far from the village and anyone who might look up and spot us. "Here we go…position, three, no-four…" I shifted my foot in the pedal and heard the clink of metal as the tail fin changed positions. "Yes, it worked!" I exclaimed as I urged Toothless up towards the blue, cloudless sky.

"Yeah, baby! Oh, this is amazing! The wind in my-cheat sheet! Stop!" My sheet with the positions scrawled on it had come loose from its clip on the saddle, flittering away from my reach. Toothless, sensing my panic, stopped flapping, sending me flying forward from the momentum and unlatching my harness from the saddle. Toothless roared as I grabbed the sheet and we started plummeting towards the ocean. Toothless was spinning uncontrollably, and I tried to maneuver myself towards him, but I was smacked by his tail. As Toothless stopped spinning, I hooked myself back into the saddle, changed the tail position, and pulled up as hard as I could, Toothless screeching in fright as we approached the forest of sea stacks. I quickly glanced at the cheat sheet before throwing it into the wind, matching my movements with Toothless' and guiding us through the sea stacks.

When we came out the other side, there were dragons all around us, all carrying animals or baskets of fish. I hunched down over the saddle, flattening myself to Toothless' back. "Toothless, what's going on?" I whispered. Toothless didn't respond; he instead followed the group of dragons, keeping far enough away to not be spotted but close enough to appear as one of the group.

We quickly approached a grey fog sitting on top of the water like a giant blanket, smothering the waves beneath it. I gulped, recognizing the area from my father's stories. "Helheim's Gate," I muttered. It suddenly occurred to me that the expedition for the nest hadn't returned yet, meaning they could still be in the fog, and could potentially spot me and Toothless. Before I could voice my concern to the dragon, however, we dove into the mist behind the other dragons, swerving around sea stacks just as they came into our line of sight. No wonder my dad's never found the nest, I thought, No ship could sail through this without a guide.

We broke through the fog into a clearer area and headed towards a mountain in the middle of an island of rock. Toothless followed the flock of dragons as they swarmed into a crack in the side of the mountain, plunging everything around us into darkness. After a few moments of nothing but black, the tunnel opened up into an enormous cavern that glowed red with a light shining from the depths of the mountain. There was an opening at the top of the cavern, allowing smoke to funnel out and into the daylight. Dragons where everywhere; huddled on ledges, behind rocks, and flying over the chasm in the middle.

"What my dad wouldn't give to find this," I muttered.

Toothless seemed to snap out of his trance and flitted away from the flock and landed on a ledge, hiding behind a pillar of rock. I leaned forward and he crept towards the edge so I could see what was happening.

The dragons we had followed in were all flying over the chasm, dropping whatever they were holding into the belly of the mountain. "It's satisfying to know that all of our food has been dumped down a hole," I mumbled as a Gronckle buzzed towards the center. It seemed old or injured as it flew haphazardly, and only belched out a single fish.

I wouldn't have thought anything was wrong, but then a roar louder than any I'd ever heard before rang out and the Gronckle seemed to deflate, as if it had just been scolded. It started to fly away, but a huge set of jaws appeared from the depths and closed around the poor creature, dragging it down to its doom.

I inhaled sharply and noticed that all the other dragons had started cowering behind rocks and huddling together, as if afraid of the thing in the pit. I nudged Toothless with my foot. "Alright bud, we've gotta get out of here," I whispered, as if the monster wouldn't hear me.

Toothless didn't move for a second, staring down into the chasm, but when the head reappeared, sniffing as if it sensed something, or someone, shouldn't be there, I prodded him again and shouted "Now!" We took off just as the monster lunged at the ledge we had been hiding on, and dragons all around us swarmed towards the opening in the top of the mountain, buffeting us with gusts of air. The monster snapped at us again, but Toothless easily dodged upwards and out of the mountain, and all the jaws were able to grab was a lone Zippleback caught between its teeth. I glanced back at the nest as we sped away, thinking how wrong Vikings were about everything to do with dragons.

* * *

Later that night, I was in my workroom in the forge sketching Toothless when a large shape loomed in the doorway. I looked up and was startled to see my dad. I quickly started shoving papers under each other, anything that had to do with Toothless couldn't be seen by my dad of all people.

"Dad! You're back! Gobber's not here, so…" I started rambling.

"I know," Stoick said, ducking under the doorframe, "I came looking for you."

I paused at that. My dad never came looking for me unless I was in trouble, but I didn't think I had done anything to get into trouble recently…other than befriending a dragon of course, but he didn't need to know that one. "You did?" I asked.

"You've been keeping secrets," Stoick continued.

"I-I have?" I stammered. He couldn't know about Toothless, could he?

"Just how long did you think you could hide it from me?" Stoick asked.

I started to panic. "I d-don't know w-what you're-"

"Nothing happens on this island without me hearing about it," Stoick declared, "So. Let's talk about that dragon."

I froze. He knew. I didn't know how he knew, but he knew. I sighed and ran my hand through my hair. "Oh gods…dad I'm so sorry, I meant to tell I just didn't know how…to…" I trailed off awkwardly as Stoick started laughing. I joined in nervously, very confused. "You're not, upset?"

Stoick stared at me incredulously. "What?! I was hoping for this!"

Stoick the Vast, one of the best dragon fighters to ever walk Berk, was hoping I would befriend a dragon? Something wasn't right here. "Uh, you were…?"

Stoick's eyes were gleaming with hope, which confused me even further. "And believe me, it only gets better! Just wait until you spill a Nadder's guts for the first time!" he started rambling, moving his hands a lot like he did when he was excited; a trait I inherited. "And mounting your first Gronckle head on a spear? What a feelin'! You really had me going there, son!"

It all hit me at once; he'd heard about my stunts in the ring. I groaned internally, realizing that his excitement was coming from thinking that I, Hiccup the Useless, finally started acting like a real Viking; but it was all a bag of lies. I slouched a bit when he got to a point in his rambling where Stoick flat-out told me he had almost given up on me. My own father, telling me he didn't think I'd ever amount to anything. It almost hurt as much as knowing his enthusiasm was for something completely fake.

Stoick paused to take a breath and pulled a helmet from behind his back. "I, uh, brought you something. To keep you safe; in the ring." I took the helmet, eyes wide; Viking helmets were often given to teens around the time they had "the talk," but my dad didn't really know how to talk about stuff like that, and he didn't think I deserved the helmet anyway…until now anyway.

"Wow…thanks," I said, running my hand over the top.

"Aye, your mother would've wanted you to have it; it's half of her breastplate," Stoick said casually.

I quickly withdrew my hand from the metal as if I'd been burned; I may know next to nothing about anatomy or females, but I learned enough from Astrid punching Snotlout and Tuffnut that there are some areas you just don't mess with.

"Matching set," Stoick continued as if he'd just given the weather, tapping his own helmet atop his head, "Keeps her close, ya know? Wear it proudly; you've earned it. You've held up your end of the deal."

I still wasn't sure what his end had been. Returning from the expedition alive, perhaps? Giving me a couple weeks to avoid his disappointed scowls? Whatever it was, I figured he'd be eating his words and taking the helmet back soon enough.

Uncomfortable with the situation, I faked a yawn and stretched, telling my dad I'd meet him back at the house. He nodded and walked out of the forge, knocking over a rack of armor on his way out.

I slumped back into my chair and put my head in my hands. I now knew where the dragon nest was, but I couldn't tell my dad; he'd wonder how in the nine realms I'd gotten there in the first place, and got there and back before the ships. It would expose Toothless, and they'd probably kill him. I wouldn't let that happen.

And then a disturbing thought crossed my mind; if it was a Night Fury that collapsed the tower on Gunnar Hofferson, and there was only one of that particular species in the general vicinity of Berk, did that mean that Toothless, albeit indirectly, was responsible for Gunnar's death?

I uncovered my recently finished sketch of the dragon, thinking, _What am I going to do?_


	11. Chapter 11: Breaking Ties

**Chapter 11: Breaking Ties**

**_Astrid's POV_**

I woke up the final day of training more determined than ever to beat Hiccup. I quickly got out of bed and dressed, headed downstairs, grabbed a bite to eat, and started walking towards the Kill Ring.

When I got there, the other teens were all huddled around the gate, except for Hiccup. I rolled my eyes at his tardiness, but didn't respond when the others greeted me; I just stared at the gate as if my glare alone would melt the iron bars.

Hiccup showed up shortly after with Gobber right behind him. He glanced in my direction, but flinched when I turned to glare at him. Gobber opened the arena and herded us in before closing the gate with a bang. I immediately shoved my way towards the shields and made a point of pushing Hiccup to the ground before he could grab one. He cried out in protest, but I ignored him, focusing on the door that Gobber was standing above.

A crowd was slowly gathering, having heard about Hiccup's accomplishments in the ring, and I just scowled at the door, waiting for Gobber to start the lesson.

Gobber pushed the lever and the Gronckle burst out, forcing us to duck behind the short barriers scattered throughout the arena. I dove and rolled between barriers as Fishlegs, Snotlout, and the twins were declared out, and I found myself next to Hiccup, who was wearing a helmet I'd never seen before.

I shoved him to the ground and snarled, "Stay out of my way, Haddock! I'm winning this thing!"

Hiccup glared at me from the ground and snarked, "Good! Please! By all means!"

I rolled my eyes and dashed towards another barrier, peeking out to make sure I was heading towards the dragon. I pressed my back up to the wood and muttered, "This time; this time for sure."

With a war cry that Odin would've been proud of, I leaped over the barrier and charged towards the dragon, only to freeze in my tracks as I took in the scene before me.

The dragon was on its side, tongue lolling and one of its legs kicking aimlessly. Hiccup was standing next to it, looking at me as if he had no idea how he'd got into this situation.

I lost my cool immediately and started screaming, "NO! NO, SON OF A HALF-TROLL, RAT-EATING, MUNGE BUCKET!" while swinging my ax at nothing in particular.

Gobber grabbed Hiccup and dragged him over towards me, but made sure to keep him far enough away from me and my ax.

"Okay, quiet down! The elder is deciding," Stoick boomed over the cheering crowd.

I immediately straightened up and looked towards Gothi as Gobber raised his hook over my head.

Gothi shook her head and the crowd murmured.

Gobber raised his hand and pointed at Hiccup with an incredulous look on his face.

Gothi nodded and smiled. The crowd burst into cheers and hollers.

I slowly turned and gave Hiccup my best death-glare, but the other teens quickly surrounded him and lifted him on their shoulders as Gobber rambled excitedly. Suddenly, a voice near the gate shouted, "ASTRID HOFFERSON!"

I gulped and trudged towards the gate behind Hiccups entourage, knowing I wouldn't like whatever my parents had in store for me.

* * *

As Hiccup was dragged towards the Great Hall, presumably for a feast to celebrate his victory, my mother dragged me into our house, pushed me into a chair, and slammed the door behind us. As she went upstairs, my father sighed heavily.

I had never seen my mother this angry, even when Hiccup accidentally set the roof on fire with one of his inventions. I wanted to defend myself somehow, even though technically I didn't do anything, but I didn't want to anger Mom further. I opened my mouth to ask Dad what was going on, but he hugged me quickly.

"I'm sorry, Astrid," he muttered, "But there's nothing I can do."

Dad released me and stepped away. I heard a door upstairs slam shut and Mom started stomping back down the stairs, holding a basket that had a sleeve of a shirt poking out…one of my shirts. My eyes widened as she dropped the basket at my feet and glared at me. Dad just gave me an apologetic look and backed up. Mom had always been the dominating figure in the household.

I knew what the basket meant, but I didn't want to accept it. I took a breath and started, "Mom, I can explain-"

My mother whirled towards me and cut me off. "No, Astrid. There is no way you can explain how that runt of a Haddock beat you in dragon training, unless you let him…" She glared at me suspiciously.

I was outraged that she would think of such a thing. "What?! No! Hiccup never even fought the beasts! He just-"

"Enough, Astrid," My mother exclaimed, "You've brought more shame to our family honor than even Finn had. You no longer deserve the name Hofferson."

My mother's words were like a slap in the face with a ship's sail. I suddenly got angrier than I'd ever gotten before, annoyed that my own mother was pinning this on me when Hiccup was the one who had cheated through dragon training.

"You know what?" I growled as I stood up and snatched the basket at my feet, slinging it over my shoulder, "Maybe I don't want to be a Hofferson anymore! If you would just listen to me for five seconds instead of blaming me for everything, you would see how stupid this three-hundred-year-old rivalry is!" Dad winced slightly, but I didn't think much of it.

Mom grabbed me and hauled me to the door, saying, "Get out. Now," as she threw me over the threshold. I stumbled a little, but managed to keep my balance as I heard the door slam shut behind me. I remembered that Hiccup had been dragged to Meade Hall for a feast, but I didn't want to talk to anyone else just yet, so instead, I turned towards the forest and headed towards my favorite training spot, barely registering the raised voices coming from the door I'd just been thrown out of.

* * *

A few hours later, the sun was just beginning to touch the horizon as I collapsed onto a log, breathing heavily and covered in sweat from my training. I grabbed my waterskin and took a long drink, noticing as I set it down next to me that someone was heading this way. I pulled my ax out of the tree I had just thrown it at and started moving towards the noises. I ducked behind a bush and listened hard as I noticed someone grumbling under their breath.

"…stupid training, they never even stopped to consider that I hadn't ever attacked the dragons, they just cared that I was actually doing something other than cowering behind a wall…"

I would know that voice anywhere, but what was Hiccup doing out here? And why did he sound so frustrated? As the sounds started getting quieter, I grabbed my basket of belongings, slung it over my shoulder, and began discretely following Hiccup as he trudged through the woods.

After a few minutes, Hiccup passed a large tree that had been partially torn apart and was bent at an odd angle. I wondered if the wind had gotten it, but all the other trees were fine. Then I saw the huge trench in the ground, and the remains of a bola at the far end of it. I frowned, thinking there was no way a dragon could have escaped a bola like that, but I was about to lose Hiccup so I pushed it out of my mind and followed him towards a dip in the ground covered by a large, flat rock.

Hiccup dropped over a boulder, still mumbling to himself, and I crawled forward to get a better look. The place was amazing; it was a large hole in the ground, but there was a lake in the center and a group of trees off to one side, and it was partially covered by branches and leaves of trees from the upper edge. I looked down and saw Hiccup drop his own basket and open it, looking through the contents and muttering to himself.

I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, and looked up to see a large, jet-black dragon bounding towards Hiccup, who appeared to be unarmed. There wasn't time for him to defend himself, but I screamed his name anyway.

"Hiccup!"


	12. Chapter 12: Harsh Reality

**Chapter 12: Harsh Reality**

**_Hiccup's POV_**

I felt like a piece of moldy bread left out in the sun. Everyone thought I was some sort of dragon-slaying prodigy, when all I ever did was subdue the dragons. The more I thought about it, the odder it seemed that no one noticed that I had never taken a weapon to any of the animals during training. It didn't matter anymore though; I was chosen to kill the Monstrous Nightmare, and there was almost no way for me to get out of it.

Almost.

The teens dragged me to Meade Hall for a celebratory feast (Vikings will find any excuse to party), and of course, they also wanted to know what my plan was for taking down the Nightmare. I just sat In my seat at the table, mindlessly staring at my plate and mumbling incoherent answers.

Luckily, the mead came out really quick, and pretty soon everyone was more occupied with singing songs and telling stories half-drunk and with off-key voices. Even the other teens, who normally weren't eager to try the stuff, had a swig or two each and soon Ruffnut was drooling over Snotlout thinking he was some buff sailor from outside the Archipelago, Snotlout was loudly proclaiming that he was actually engaged to Astrid, Fishlegs was spouting random facts about dragons, specifically Monstrous Nightmares, in between drinks, and Tuffnut was tying his braids together to make a beard.

My dad was up at the Chief's table exclaiming quite loudly how proud of me he was and how he knew I would grow out of my skinny stature someday. This just made me feel worse, and then I noticed Astrid's parents walk in with very forced smiles. I frowned, not seeing Astrid anywhere, as they each picked up a large mug of mead and took large gulps. I looked around at the rest of the teens, but thankfully, no one was paying attention to me anymore. I stood up and rushed out of the hall quickly and quietly.

Once outside, I walked to my house on the hill opposite Meade Hall. There wasn't any point in hurrying or hiding; almost everyone was in Meade Hall eating and drinking. I walked inside and went upstairs to my room, grabbing a basket with straps on the way.

I looked around my room, thinking about what I would need. I grabbed a couple of changes of clothes, a blanket and pillow, some tools, and a couple notebooks, and put them in the basket. I slung the basket over my shoulder, looked around to make sure I didn't forget anything important, and went back outside, heading towards the forest.

* * *

"We're leaving," I called as I entered the cove, "Let's pack up, you and I are taking a little vacation, forever."

I dropped the basket on the ground and opened it to replace my harness with my vest, and then heard a voice behind me, startling me out of my thoughts.

"Hiccup!"

I jumped up as Toothless suddenly stopped in front of me, a surprised look on his face. Suddenly, his pupils shrank to slits and he unsheathed his teeth, growling at something behind me. I spun around to see…Astrid?

"Astrid?! W-what are you…doing here?" I stammered. I cursed at myself for being unable to form a complete sentence.

"Hiccup, there's a dragon right behind you!" Astrid yelled. Toothless growled at her.

"Oh him? That's just Toothless," I said casually.

Astrid glared at me incredulously. "'Toothless?' You do realize he-IT has teeth, right?"

I glared back at her, "HE won't hurt me, or you, unless you attack him, or me," I grumbled. Then I noticed the basket next to Astrid's feet, very similar to mine. "Were you going somewhere, Astrid?"

Astrid took her ax off her back, making Toothless growl louder. "Woah, woah, it's okay bud," I muttered, patting Toothless' head.

She glared at me again. "Hiccup, you do realize that's a dragon right? Why haven't you killed it yet?!"

Toothless roared at Astrid, making her flinch and take a slight step back. I sighed, rubbing my forehead. This was not how I had imagined today going. "Astrid, we don't have to kill them."

"What are you saying?!" Astrid shot back, still holding her ax like her life depended on it, "They've killed hundreds of us! They killed my uncle and my brother!"

"And we've killed thousands of them!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in exasperation, "They defend themselves, that's all!"

"And how would you know that?" Astrid challenged.

I turned and looked her right in the eye. "Because I've seen the nest. There's a giant dragon that controls them and makes them bring it food."

Astrid blinked a couple times, then looked over Toothless' shoulder, probably just noticing the saddle and fake tail-fin. She lowered her ax and Toothless stopped growling as loudly. I released a breath I hadn't realized I'd been holding and gestured for Astrid to drop the ax.

Astrid took another look at me, then back at Toothless. Her eyes widened in horror and realization. "Is that…a Night Fury?!" she whispered.

I coughed into my hand awkwardly. I'd almost forgotten about the incident with her brother. "Uh…yes?"

The girl glared at me, raised her ax, and charged at Toothless. The dragon opened his mouth to prepare a blast and ran forward to meet her, snapping me out of my daze.

"NO!" I yelled, running between the two as Astrid started swinging her ax. Toothless closed his mouth and skidded to a stop as I grabbed the ax and tossed it away with strength I didn't realize I had. Astrid stumbled backward and tripped over a rock, falling back onto her hands as I held my arms out in front of Toothless, who slowly calmed down.

"You've got a lot of explaining to do, Haddock!" Astrid snarled as she slowly got to her feet and brushed her hands off on her shirt.

I turned and glared at her. "I was trying to, until you went and attacked my best friend!"

Astrid froze at that. It suddenly occurred to me that the dragon I just referred to as my best friend had quite possibly gotten her brother killed. I cleared my throat and tried to get rid of that disturbing thought. "Speaking of which, why are you still here? Why didn't you just run to tell the village?" I asked.

Astrid avoided my gaze. "Most of them are probably drunk by now and wouldn't listen…not that they'd listen to me anyway…" Astrid mumbled the last part, but I managed to hear and it made me even more confused. Toothless nudged my side and glanced at Astrid as if asking what we should do with her. That gave me an idea.

"Astrid come here," I said, gesturing to Toothless for him to stay put as I walked back over to my basket.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Astrid walk towards her ax. "And if you pick up that ax, Toothless will make you wish you hadn't." As if to prove my point, Toothless growled menacingly.

Astrid, naturally, ignored me and continued walking towards her ax while Toothless' growl steadily grew louder as she got closer. As Astrid bent down to pick up the ax, Toothless roared and pounced on her, pinning her to the ground with a paw similar to how he'd pinned me when I freed him. Astrid gulped and started wiggling around to try and free herself, but Toothless kept her effectively trapped. I rolled my eyes and walked over to the two.

"Oh for the love of Thor, I warned you!" I scolded.

Astrid just glared at me. "Get this demon off of me, Haddock!"

I folded my arms and glared back at her. "Why, so you can attack him again? I don't think so." I looked around and noticed the basket she'd brought again. "What are you doing out here, anyway?"

Astrid stopped struggling and paused, as if contemplating her answer. "I…wanted to spend a night in the woods," she mumbled, not meeting my gaze, "I was training with my ax and saw you walking, so I followed you to figure out why you got so good at dragon training." She turned and glared at me again.

The first part was obviously a lie. Astrid was never good at lying; she never had a reason to, being the perfect Viking teenager she was. I remembered her parents calling for her after the Choosing, but after that, I was taken to Meade Hall and Astrid was taken home. "Well Astrid, meet Toothless. Toothless, Astrid." I said.

Astrid looked up at Toothless as he bared his teeth and growled menacingly. "Toothless? How did you come up with that?" Astrid scoffed. To answer her question, Toothless retracted his teeth for a second, showing his gums before unsheathing them and growling again. "Ah, retractable teeth. Makes sense," Astrid muttered, "Now, can you get him off me?"

I walked over and kicked her ax as far away from her as possible. "Fine, but don't you dare attack him again," I warned as I wagged a fish in front of Toothless and tossed it away. Toothless' eyes dilated and he dashed after the fish, tongue lolling. Astrid grumbled and sat up. I looked up at the sky and noticed the sun had started to set, stars blinking into existence. "We should probably head back," I muttered.

Astrid stood up and brushed herself off. "Nope. I'm staying out here tonight."

I turned and stared at her. "You're going to sleep out here in the woods? Won't your parents-"

"My parents know exactly where I am, Haddock," Astrid snapped, "Now if you're done patronizing me, I'd like to get some sleep." She proceeded to grab her basket and started to walk out of the cove.

"Wait," I called, "Why don't you spend the night here?"

Astrid stopped. "Aren't you afraid I'll attack your pet again?"

I rolled my eyes. "He's not my pet, he's my best friend." Toothless wandered over to me and I started scratching behind his ear. Toothless closed his eyes and purred in delight. "And I'll sleep next to him to make sure you don't try anything."

Astrid turned and stared at me. She opened her mouth to argue, but closed it and just nodded stiffly, walking over to the far side of the cove.

I glanced at Toothless, who gave me a look that clearly said I don't trust her, and neither should you and wandered over to his favorite spot, blasting a circle and curling up.

I sighed and wandered over to my dragon. It was gonna be a long night.


	13. Chapter 13: Understanding

**Chapter 13: Understanding**

**_Astrid's POV_**

I couldn't sleep that night.

I kept glancing over at the Night Fury curled around Hiccup, letting the boy use his front leg as a pillow and his wing as a blanket. I kept expecting it to wake up and eat Hiccup, or attack me again, but it just lay there, snoring softly.

I groaned and rolled over on my makeshift bed, which was just a blanket on the ground folded in half over me. Secretly, I was grateful Hiccup had let me stay in the cove for the night, although I was also kicking myself for not finding a place on my own.

When I next looked over at Toothless, he was glaring at me from one eye, until he saw me looking. Then he quickly shut it and gave an overly-loud snore that was obviously fake.

I chuckled a bit, wondering why in Hel's name I had been so intent on killing this "beast" earlier, when he was really just an overprotective, fire-breathing housecat. He and Hiccup were so friendly-

The realization hit me like a Gronckle to the head: I was jealous. Jealous of Hiccup's new best friend, where I had shunned real friends after Gunnar, and jealous that Hiccup had someone to turn to when he had problems, when I didn't even have my parents anymore. And maybe I was angry that someone was a dragon, a Night Fury of all things, who, albeit indirectly, was responsible for my brother's death.

That thought made me pause. Vikings have only ever seen evidence of one Night Fury, meaning it was more than likely that the very dragon snoozing with the strangest boy I've ever met was also at least partially responsible for what happened to Gunnar.

I tried to bring my anger to the surface. I'd been closer to Gunnar than I had to anyone else before or since. But the more I thought about it, I realized it wasn't really Toothless' fault. Gunnar had made the choice to save those kids instead of himself, and that made him a hero to me.

I couldn't completely blame the dragon anyway. According to Hiccup, there was a giant monster that somehow controlled that dragons, making them raid villages and bring it food. They had no control over their actions, while Vikings knew exactly what we were doing. We weren't any better than we thought the dragons were. If anything, the dragons were better people than Vikings, just forced into a living nightmare of slaving for a beast with an insatiable hunger. It just took a Viking that wasn't really a Viking to see it.

I stared up at the sky, and Hiccup's face floated into my mind; his messy hair, the scar on his lower lip, his forest green eyes, his dorky grin…

Oh, gods. Was I crushing on Hiccup?

That thought alone set my face ablaze, and I instinctively covered my head with the little bit of blanket I could. I don't think I fooled Toothless, though; I heard a soft, wavering warble as if he was laughing at me.

"Shut up, Toothless," I hissed.

I rolled so I was facing away from the dragon, closed my eyes, and fell into dreams of flying cats and sarcastic Vikings.

* * *

I woke up the next morning to the smell of fish. I slowly opened my eyes and saw Hiccup holding a couple fish on sticks over a fire. Toothless wasn't around, which I found odd. I got up and made my way over to the fire.

Hiccup glanced up at me as I walked over, mumbling something that sounded like "Morning." I just nodded at him and sat a couple feet away, staring at the flames.

Hiccup cleared his throat. "So, uh, b-breakfast?" he stuttered, gesturing to one of the fish.

"Thanks," I muttered, taking the stick from him. I tried to pull the fish off the stick, but it was still hot, so Hiccup handed me a large leaf. I raised an eyebrow, but used it to pull the fish off and then flattened it as a makeshift plate.

"So, where's Toothless?" I asked casually, picking bones from my fish.

Hiccup shifted uncomfortably. I guessed he still didn't trust me, and his reply proved it; "He's on the other s-side of the lake; I-I figured it'd be safer for b-both of you that way." He took a bite of his fish.

I stared at the ground. Even after how I'd treated him all these years, Hiccup still cared about my safety.

"Look, Hiccup…about yesterday-" I started.

Hiccup just shook his head. "D-don't worry about it. I-I probably would've done the same i-if I were in your situation. I've just g-gotta figure out what I'm gonna d-do in the ring…"

I frowned. Toothless was evidence enough to prove that Hiccup would never kill a dragon, so what was he thinking? And why was he just brushing off my attacks on Toothless from yesterday?

Then what Hiccup had just said sunk in, and I realized he was scared. We both knew he couldn't, or wouldn't, kill the Nightmare, but he still had to do something.

And then I remembered the basket he'd carried to the cove. "Hiccup…were you going to run away yesterday?" I asked slowly.

Hiccup turned to look at me with a raised eyebrow. "W-where'd you get that idea?"

"The basket you brought with you. From what I saw, it didn't have fish for Toothless in it," I answered, gesturing over to the rock the basket was still leaning against.

Hiccup threw his arms up in exasperation. "Okay, fine, I was. Can you really blame me for wanting to leave?"

I stared at him incredulously. "Hiccup, you won Dragon Training. What are you…" I trailed off, realizing he'd never actually hurt a single dragon during training. "Oh."

"Exactly. If my dad found out about Toothless, he'd banish me for sure," Hiccup moaned, flopping his back onto the ground.

I turned and stared across the lake at the Night Fury currently dozing in a patch of sunlight. "What if you tried training it?" I wondered.

"What?"

"Train the Nightmare, in front of everyone," I explained, "You obviously wouldn't endanger Toothless by taking him to the village, so train the Nightmare and show everyone we're wrong about dragons."

Hiccup sat up and stared at me suspiciously. "Why do you even care? We've been told to hate each other since we were kids."

I just snorted. "Let's just say you're not the only one with parent problems."

Hiccup tilted his head, obviously thinking hard about something. Then a genuine smile started stretching across his face. "It's kinda nice to have support for once in my life," he said softly.

I smiled shyly back, and a seed of hope was planted in my chest. Maybe we could make something work after all.


	14. Chapter 14: The Nightmare

**Chapter 14: The Nightmare**

**_Hiccup's POV_**

I stood at the gate to the Kill Ring as the village filed noisily into the stands, staring at the helmet my dad gave me I held in my hands. I knew I couldn't kill the Nightmare; or more accurately, wouldn't; but I couldn't help but feel like I was about to do something outrageous and catastrophic.

I glanced up at the crowd and saw Astrid sitting with the other teens, staring at me. I tried to give her a confident smile, but it probably looked more like a grimace.

I didn't know what to think about Astrid. Yesterday she tried to kill Toothless multiple times, today she was willing to give him a chance. I figured something must have happened when she left the ring with her parents yesterday, but I wasn't sure what.

I glanced back up at Astrid and noticed she was still staring at me with a worried expression. My gaze became transfixed on her eyes; blue as the ocean and sky. How had I never noticed how blue Astrid's eyes are before? And was Astrid…blushing? I must've been seeing things.

I was jarred out of my thoughts by Gobber's meaty hand landing on my shoulder. "It's time Hiccup," he told me, "Knock 'em dead."

Gobber opened the gate, and I took a deep breath. I stepped into the arena while putting my helmet on. "I'm ready," I called as I picked a knife and shield from the weapons rack, the arena gate closing behind me.

Gobber nodded and pulled the lever above the cage holding the Monstrous Nightmare.

With a creak, the log holding the cage doors closed raised from its position, and the doors burst open in an explosion of flame.

I made a very undignified noise in the back of my throat as the red and orange Monstrous Nightmare burst into the arena, covered in flame and roaring angrily. It climbed onto the cage covering the arena and blasted a jet of flame into the crowd, the surrounding Vikings dodging easily.

The dragon paused as it climbed directly over my head, glaring at me with slit pupils. Its eyes narrowed as it slowly lowered itself to the floor of the arena, the flames licking it's back slowly dying.

There was a moment of stillness as the Nightmare and I just stared at each other.

"C'mon, Hiccup! Give it to 'em!" A random Viking shouted.

Slowly, I backed away from the Nightmare, dropping my knife and shield. There were confused whispers as I raised my hands in front of me. "It's okay," I muttered, "It's okay."

I took my helmet off my head and the Nightmare hissed. "I'm not one of them," I stated, and threw the helmet to the side.

The Nightmare's eyes widened slightly, pupils starting to dilate, but the crowd gasped in shock and looked at the Chief. I glanced up and cringed at the look of pure anger and betrayal on my father's face.

"Stop the fight," Stoick growled.

"No!" I said, "I need you all to see this. They aren't what we think they are." I inched my hands closer to the Nightmare's snout, the dragon looking at me cautiously but curiously. "We don't have to kill them."

"I SAID STOP THE FIGHT!" Stoick bellowed, slamming his hammer on the cage covering.

Oh boy, I thought as the Nightmare's eyes slit. The dragon snapped at me, and I whipped my arm back just in time. I yelled in fright and started running as the Nightmare started spewing fire at me.

"Hiccup!" I heard my name shouted near the gate, so I turned towards it and sprinted as hard as I could, but the Nightmare shot a blast of fire next to me, forcing me to dash away from the gate.

In a split second, the Nightmare had pinned me under his long claws, drawing gas into its throat to prepare a blast. I squeezed my eyes shut, preparing for the inevitable as a familiar whine started filling the air.

Suddenly, an explosion rocked the arena, filling the space with smoke. A screech sounded and the Nightmare's claws disappeared from my sight. I scrambled up as the smoke started clearing, looking for the sources of the roars.

And then the smoke cleared, and I saw them: Toothless snarling and wrestling the Nightmare away from me. The wild dragon whimpered and backed away from Toothless, into a waterfall of Vikings that started pouring into the arena. A group of villagers pinned the Nightmare while Spitelout attempted to get to Toothless.

I panicked and started shoving Toothless, but he wouldn't budge. "Toothless, go, get out of here!" The Night Fury just snarled at the rushing Vikings. "Go!" And then Stoick started rushing towards us. "Dad, no! He won't hurt you!"

Toothless pounced and rolled with Stoick until the dragon was on top. "No…" I watched helplessly as Toothless started preparing a shot. "NO!" I screamed.

Toothless's eyes dilated, and he swallowed the shot, glancing over at me with a look of shame. Spitelout took the opportunity to tackle my dragon off my father, pressing his weight on Toothless's snout as half a dozen more Vikings pinned his tail and wings.

"No! Don't hurt him! Please don't hurt him," I pleaded.

Stoick stood up and glared at Toothless, the dragon groaning pitifully under Spitelout's weight. "Put it with the others," he growled.

Then he turned to me, and my blood ran cold at the look of pure hatred and betrayal he directed at me.

"You," Stoick growled, "are coming with me." I yelped as he roughly grabbed my arm and dragged me out of the arena. I was officially living my worst nightmare.


	15. Chapter 15: Similarities

**Chapter 15: Similarities**

**_Astrid's POV_**

As Stoick dragged Hiccup, stumbling and stammering, out of the arena, I Immediately left the other teens gaping at the Night Fury being muzzled and shoved into a pen.

I raced through the streets of Berk, through crowds of Vikings whispering and muttering, towards the Great Hall.

As I slowed to stop near the steps to the hall, panting and clutching the stitch in my side, I heard a voice bellow, "READY THE SHIPS!" as Stoick stepped into the sunlight, slamming the tall door behind him hard enough for it to bounce back. He blinked a couple times, shook his head, and started walking towards the docks.

I ran into the Great Hall to find Hiccup sitting on the floor, staring at the doors in shock.

"Hiccup?" I asked.

Hiccup blinked a couple times, then jumped as if he just noticed me standing there. "A-Astrid! What are you-?" He cut off as a roar sounded from outside. Hiccup's eyes widened. "Toothless," he muttered, scrambling up to run past me out the open doors.

I sighed, shook my head, and ran after him.

* * *

I found Hiccup standing on one of the wooden paths overlooking the docks, staring at the ships that were being loaded with weapons.

He didn't even look at me as I came up next to him. I followed his gaze and winced. Toothless was restrained on a wooden platform with iron bars looping across his body and wings. He had a leather strap muzzling his snout and a wooden ring around his neck. Toothless' eyes were wide with terror and he struggled hard against his bindings as his platform was lifted onto the lead ship.

Stoick called out orders as the last of the weapons were loaded and he walked onto the lead ship. He leaned over to Toothless and said something I couldn't hear, but the hatred in both Viking and dragon's eyes made me shiver.

Hiccup and I stared out at the ocean until the fleet disappeared past the horizon.

Hiccup plopped down on the edge of the walkway and covered his face with his hands. "They always said I'd ruin the village," he muttered, "I guess they were right all along."

I sat down next to him. "What happened?" I asked.

Hiccup took a deep breath and glanced up at me. "I was trying to tell Dad about the queen, but all he heard was 'island' and he was a lost cause. Then I made the mistake of telling him _how to get there_." Hiccup groaned. "I tried to stop him, and he…" He gulped. "…disowned me."

I stared out at the waves dancing between the sea stacks. "Well, that's one thing we have in common then."

Hiccup stared at me. "W-what?"

I sighed and brushed my bangs out of my eyes. "Yesterday, when my parents called for me after dragon training? They brought me home, told me I wasn't worthy of the Hofferson name, and kicked me out." I rolled my eyes. "I guess that's why I attacked Toothless. I was jealous that you finally had someone that cared about you as a person, rather than your reputation."

Hiccup turned away. "Yeah, but look where he's at now. He probably hates me for getting him into this mess."

I shook my head. "Hiccup, he _chose_ to rescue you in the ring. He wouldn't have done that if he didn't care about you."

Hiccup groaned and shook his head. "I was referring to shooting him down, Astrid. Because of me, Toothless can't fly on his own. He was trapped in the cove for weeks, and he-" I punched in the arm-hard. "OW! Why would you _do_ that?!" Hiccup whined, rubbing his arm.

"Hiccup Haddock, the rest of us would've killed that Night Fury on the spot, especially me," I scolded, "But you didn't. Why not?"

Hiccup glared at me. "Why is this so important to you all of a sudden?"

"Because I want to remember what you say, right now," I answered.

"Oh for the love of-" Hiccup stood up and started waving his arms around, agitated. "I was a coward. I was weak. Three hundred years, and I'm the first Viking who wouldn't kill a dragon."

"First to ride one though," I pointed out, and Hiccup's shoulders slumped as I stood up next to him. "So…?"

"I wouldn't kill him because he looked as frightened as I was," Hiccup muttered, "I looked at him, and saw myself."

"I bet he's really frightened now. What are you gonna do about it?" I challenged.

Hiccup sniffed. "Eh, probably something stupid."

I smirked. "Good, but you've already done that, a couple times."

Hiccup scowled, then his eyes widened, and I could almost see the gears turning in his head. "Then something crazy," he said, and started running off.

"That's more like it," I grinned, and ran after him.


	16. Chapter 16: The Plan

**Chapter 16: The Plan**

_**Hiccup's POV**_

I dashed into the arena and headed straight for one of the pens. Astrid was right; I couldn't just sit here wallowing when Toothless needed me. I grabbed the lock and was about to open it when I heard someone clear their throat behind me.

I whirled around, ready to stammer apologies that died on my tongue when I saw the other teens standing behind me. Fishlegs looked nervous, the Twins looked bored, Snotlout looked scared, and Astrid looked incredibly pleased with herself. I raised an eyebrow at her.

"What?" she asked innocently, "You didn't really think I'd let you go after the village alone, did you?"

"Uh, well, yeah," I muttered, "I did, actually."

Fishlegs timidly raised his hand. "Uh, Hiccup," he mumbled, "How exactly _are_ you planning on going after them? Ships won't catch them."

"Easy," I said, unlocking the door in front of me and stepping into the cage, "We fly."

One by one, I gently led each dragon out into the arena, giving them each a fish from the storeroom to keep them occupied.

The last dragon to come out was the Deadly Nadder, a brilliant blue and gold dragon with yellow eyes. Without taking my eyes away from the dragon, I called, "Astrid, come here."

I heard footsteps slowly get closer, and Astrid appeared at my side, eyeing the dragon warily.

"Any particular reason you want me on this one?" she asked nervously.

Without thinking, I grabbed her hand and put it on the dragon's snout, scratching under the Nadder's jaw with my other hand. "Well," I muttered, mostly to myself, "A beautiful dragon needs a beautiful rider."

There was a sharp intake of breath behind me, that I would realize later was Fishlegs, and I froze. "I-I-I mean," I stammered, blushing furiously, "W-well, uh…"

I glanced at Astrid, who was giving me a weird look, but she continued scratching the Nadder's jaw.

I figured my arm would be safer if I moved on quickly. "Alright, Fishlegs, over here…"

The next hour or so the others got acquainted with the dragons; Astrid with the Nadder, Fishlegs with the Gronkle, Snotlout with the Nightmare, and the Twins each took a head of the Zippleback.

I moved from Snotlout's side over to a storage bin filled with supplies. "You're gonna need something to hold on," I explained.

I found five lengths of rope and handed one to each rider, helping them tie them around the dragons' necks so they were tight enough to hold on to but loose enough to be comfortable for the dragon.

"Alright, let's go. Toothle-" I stopped abruptly, remembering Toothless struggling helplessly against his bonds.

The other teens looked around awkwardly, but Astrid called out, "You can ride with me, Hiccup."

I blinked at her uncomprehendingly. She rolled her eyes. "Come on, I won't bite."

I swallowed nervously and walked up to the Nadder as she crouched down the let me climb on. Astrid offered her hand, so I took it and let her pull me up. I sat behind her, looking at all the spikes on her armor, and wondered where I could hold on that wouldn't get me thrown off or impaled.

Astrid seemed to guess my thoughts because she sighed dramatically and pulled my arms around her waist. "Hiccup, seriously, do you want to save Toothless or not?"

My face was burning in embarrassment, and I tried to ignore the Twins and Snotlout's cackling. "Y-yeah, let's go."

We took off, and I unconsciously hugged Astrid's waist a bit tighter. With every turn and change in altitude, I would habitually twitch my left foot, and I would be reminded of Toothless trapped in chains.

"You miss him, don't you?" Astrid's voice jerked me out of my thoughts.

I rolled my eyes. "What gave you that idea? The fact that a dragon treats me better than anyone in the village, or that I was willing to ride with _you_ to go save him?"

Astrid was silent for a moment, and I took a breath. "Sorry," I muttered.

She shook her head. "No, I definitely deserved that. But your leg twitching is what got me thinking. That's how you control his tail, right?"

I nodded, and then remembered she couldn't see me. "Yeah. The left stirrup has a peddle that connects to a rig along Toothless' body, then ends at the tailfin. The peddle shifts in various directions based on how Toothless uses his tail in flight."

Astrid whistled. "How long did that take to get right?"

"Well," I mumbled, "We had a few…crashes along the way."

Astrid snorted, and I cracked a small smile as Fishlegs glided towards us.

"Uh, Hiccup?" he pointed, "Is that…?"

I leaned sideways and looked around Astrid to where Fishlegs was pointing. We were heading straight for what looked like a giant cloud floating on the water.

"Helheim's Gate," I confirmed.

The dragon's plunged into the fog, expertly dodging around the sea stacks littered with broken ships.

Suddenly, a roar sounded from in front of us, louder than anything I'd ever heard before. The other teens looked at each other nervously as the dragons grumbled and squawked.

"We're too late," Astrid gasped.

I shook my head. "There's still time. We just need to hurry and find Toothless."

We emerged from the fog to see absolute chaos. Half the catapults had been destroyed, the Vikings were scattered around running and screaming, and in the middle of it all was a gargantuan dragon that could sit on the entire village. The beast itself was mostly blue-grey, with red spots scattered along its back. Its blunt head was framed with a frill large enough to cover the Great Hall. Each tooth was twice the size of my dad.

"Let's go," I said, and Astrid nudged the dragon, who squawked and dove towards the monster on the beach.

"Fire!" I yelled, and each dragon shot a ball of fire at the beast, disorienting it and preventing it from stepping on Stoick and Gobber.

"Ruff, Tuff, watch your backs!" I called as the giant turned, its boulder-sized eyes glaring at us. "Move Fishlegs!"

We swooped around as the giant dragon roared and blew flames over the ships, setting them all ablaze and sending the Vikings running. I panicked as I searched frantically for Toothless' form among the blazing ships.

"There!" I called, pointing through the flames at a black shape struggling against a circle of wood.

Astrid steered the Nadder towards Toothless as he looked up and saw us, eyes wide with terror. Guilt welled up from the pit of my stomach.

I swallowed back my nausea and swung my left leg over, preparing to jump. "Astrid, as soon as I jump to free Toothless, go help the others distract the queen."

Astrid nodded as I pulled my legs up and sat on my heels. I glanced at her for a second and could've sworn I saw concern in her eyes, but she turned away too quickly for me to be sure. I took a deep breath and sprang off the dragon, free-falling for a moment before my feet hit the deck and I stumbled forward towards Toothless.

"I'm sorry. bud," I muttered as I pulled the belt serving as a muzzle off his snout, "For everything."

I heard a roar behind me and Toothless barked in panic. I turned my head to see a giant leg about to step on our ship, panicked, and lunged towards Toothless.

Behind me, the queen's enormous front paw stepped on the deck, tilting everything towards the water. I yelped and tried to grab a bar of Toothless' prison as my balance was thrown, but he slid past me and slid into the water, leaving me flailing about before I too entered the frigid sea.

I swam down towards Toothless and yanked at the chains, but I'm not exactly sure what I expected to happen; the chains themselves were thicker than both my arms!

I didn't want to leave Toothless, but my vision was starting to turn dark as my lungs screamed for air. My oxygen-deprived mind barely made out Toothless' cry of panic as talons grasped my shoulders and pulled me out of the water.

I coughed up water as I sat up on the rocky beach, just catching a flash of yellow and blue before it disappeared back into the water. "Astrid?" I muttered disbelievingly.

I heard a call from behind me; "Hiccup!" I turned and got a face full of scraggly red beard as Stoick hugged the breath out of me.

"Can't…breathe...!" I gasped.

"Sorry," he muttered sheepishly as he held me at arm's length. "For everything."

"Yeah," I sighed, "Me too."

I heard a splash and turned around to see the Nadder bursting from the water, Toothless clutched carefully in her talons. I ran forward and hugged the Night Fury's neck as he shook himself off, purring contentedly.

A shimmer of light caught my eye, and as I turned my head the world seemed to slow down.

Astrid was sitting astride the Nadder wringing her hair out as the dragon preened, sapphire eyes narrowed in concentration, her brows furrowed as drops of water glistened on her shoulder pads. It was then that I realized her braid was undone, golden waves shimmering around her as she tossed her head. As Astrid started fixing her braid, Toothless nudged my arm and growled over his shoulder at the giant queen still rampaging on the beach.

I sighed and started to climb into the saddle, but Stoick caught me by the arm.

I turned towards him and was baffled by the knowing expression he was giving me. He winked and whispered, "She's quite the catch, and there aren't many fish in Berk to choose from."

I blinked, confused, and heard several yells from the direction of the queen. Toothless barked to get my attention, and Astrid's Nadder squawked nervously.

Stoick let go of my arm. "You don't have to go out there."

I swung my leg over the saddle and clicked the pedal of the tailfin. "We're Vikings," I responded, "It's an occupational hazard."

Stoick opened his mouth to respond, but Astrid cut in, "Uh, Hiccup? We ought to go help the others."

Swallowing my nervousness, I nodded and turned towards the beast. We kicked off the ground and circled around, looking for the others.

Snotlout was on the frill of the queen, and had evidently been beating the three eyes on that side with a hammer, judging by how bloodshot they looked.

Fishlegs was on the ground with his Gronkle, helping the dragon limp towards the mass of Vikings, who were too preoccupied with getting away from the queen to care about the Gronkle heading towards them.

The twins were bickering, as usual; Astrid flew over to them and shouted something I couldn't hear, and they started flying towards the queen. I was slightly concerned they were about to do something suicidal, but they just flew past the beast's head, catching Snotlout as he jumped.

The queen roared and snapped at the Zippleback, missing by inches. Astrid flew in between the queen and the Twins to give them time to retreat, but the queen opened her mouth and started sucking the Nadder towards her gaping maw.

I flicked the tailfin into position, and Toothless started diving towards the queen, preparing a shot with the signature Night Fury whine.

Just as Astrid's Nadder was about to be sucked into the giant's mouth, Toothless fired, knocking the queens head away and sending Astrid falling towards the ground screaming.

I turned Toothless around and dove after her, trying to look over Toothless' sides as her screams stopped. "Did you get her?" I asked the dragon.

Toothless flipped his head under his belly and cooed in response.

We followed the Nadder as she set down near the Vikings, panting from the effort of resisting the queen's vacuum. Astrid dropped from Toothless' grip and turned towards us, shouting "GO!" and making shooing motions. I nodded and steered Toothless back towards the queen as he fired another shot, knocking the giant onto its side. It was then I noticed the very worn, very large wings folded at her sides.

"That thing has wings," I muttered, "Let's see if she can use them!"

We swooped around and fired another shot at the queen, who roared at us angrily.

"You think that did it?" I wondered aloud, peering behind us.

I was quickly answered when the air was buffeted by two enormous wings lifting the queen off and ground and quickly catching up to us.

"Well, she can fly," I muttered, turning my back to the queen and lowering myself closer to the saddle.

We dove towards the water and began swerving through the maze of sea stacks, the queen roaring furiously as she crashed through the maze, stacks crumbling as she rammed into them with her blunt head.

_This isn't slowing her down at all, _I thought. Then I looked up and noticed the dark cloud cover.

"Okay bud," I told Toothless, "Time to disappear!"

My foot clicked the pedal into position and we shot upwards into the clouds, leaving the queen roaring and looking around angrily.

With flashes of purple light, we started dive-bombing the queen's wings, tearing holes through the worn, ancient scales. The queen roared in pain and breathed a stream of fire, coating the clouds around us in flames.

I glanced back at Toothless' tail after narrowly avoiding the column of flames, and my heart jumped at the sight of the ragged and burning tailfin.

"Okay, time's up," I muttered. I looked at the ground far, far below, and got a crazy idea. "Let's hope this works."

I turned Toothless towards the queen and had him fire at her head. She roared in annoyance and chased us as we started to dive.

I counted the seconds as the ground rapidly grew closer. "Hold, Toothless," I muttered, hearing the hiss of gas filling the queen's giant maw.

Right before the queen could fire, I shouted, "NOW!" and flipped Toothless to face the beast, shooting a blast straight into her gullet.

The queen's eyes bulged as the gas ignited inside her, and she tried to open her wings to slow the fall, but the holes Toothless and I had ripped were widening at the speed she was falling.

I flipped Toothless back around and he opened his own wings, catching an updraft and strafing to the side as the queen impacted the ground, exploding into a gargantuan fireball.

I tried clicking the pedal to turn us away from the looming tail we were heading towards, but there was nothing left to hold it together. The tailfin itself had burned up, and the frame had loosened and fluttered uselessly as I desperately tried to get it to do something.

The rig finally gave out, collapsing and falling away from us piece by piece, but not before it yanked my left leg to the side with a sickening _crack_.

Pain like nothing I'd ever experienced exploded in my leg, causing my vision to swim in and out of focus and black spots to appear. A split second later, the massive tail crashed into Toothless, knocking me off and throwing me into the inferno below.

The last thing I saw before I blacked out was Toothless, his intelligent, green eyes filled with panic as he dove after me.


	17. Chapter 17: Consequences

**NOTICE: The second mildly graphic scene is in this chapter.**

* * *

**Chapter 17: Consequences**

_**Astrid's POV**_

Time seemed to slow down.

I watched in horror as Hiccup fell into the inferno caused by the exploding queen, Toothless desperately diving after him. I didn't want to blink, but the gusts coming from the flames caused me to instinctively throw my arms in front of my face.

When the winds and flames died down, Stoick immediately started running through the falling ashes, calling Hiccup's name. I ran after him, ignoring the protests coming from the other teens.

As the smoke started clearing, I could clearly see Stoick kneeling in front of Toothless, his head bowed, The dragon was unconscious, and the saddle and tailfin were burned to nothing or torn to shreds. The mechanism that controlled the tailfin was a mess of red-hot metal and half-burned leather, pressing into Toothless' scaly hide.

But there was no sign of Hiccup.

I couldn't move. I couldn't breathe. I started trembling as tears welled up in my eyes. It was Gunnar all over again.

And I had just started to think…

A low moan came from the Night Fury, and he slowly blinked his eyes open, turning to face the devastated chief.

"I-I'm so sorry," Stoick whispered.

Toothless gazed at him for a moment, then started to move his wings, which I had just noticed were wrapped around himself protectively. Stoick gasped, and I rushed over to see…

"Hiccup!" Stoick gasped.

I looked over his shoulder, and sure enough, Toothless was clutching a very beaten-up Hiccup in his paws. He was so still, I feared the worst as Stoick grabbed his son from the tired dragon, took his helmet off, and put an ear to the boy's chest.

"He's alive!" Stoick cried, his voice cracking, "You brought him back alive!"

I almost collapsed in relief, a wall of noise from cheering Vikings and roaring dragons following Gobber as he hobbled over.

"Well," he said solemnly, "Ya know, most of him."

I turned towards him, confused, and caught a glimpse of Hiccup's left leg, partially concealed behind the two Vikings. My hands flew to my mouth to stop myself from screaming or crying out, because just above his left ankle was what could've been mistaken as a second knee, except with jagged bone sticking through his blood-soaked pant leg. I had to look away to keep myself from throwing up.

"He tried to warn me," Stoick muttered, "And this is the price he had to pay for my stubbornness."

Gobber patted the Chief on the shoulder. "We need to get that foot off soon, or he'll have to pay a lot more than part of his leg."

Stoick nodded and stood up. "We need a fire to warm up an ax."

Snotlout, the Twins, and Fishlegs immediately hurried to the wrecked ships and brought back the driest timber they could find and piled it up in a hastily built firepit. Snotlout waved the Monstrous Nightmare he rode from the Arena and gestured at the pile. The red dragon cocked its head and let out a short spurt of fire, igniting the logs instantly and earning some scratches under the jaw from Snotlout.

"Ax," Stoick stated, and a random Viking came up and handed over their ax. Stoick held the weapon over the fire for a few seconds as another Viking came up with part of a torn sail to lay Hiccup on.

I was still trembling as I watched the older villagers pick up Hiccup, who let out a weak moan, and set him on the cloth. Gobber tapped my shoulder gently.

"Lass, ye should take the other teens away," he said seriously, "Yer too young to watch something like this."

I nodded numbly and waved the other teens over as I walked away from the group surrounding Hiccup and towards a small pile of rocks. I sat down heavily as a familiar blue and yellow Nadder trotted over and chirped at me questioningly.

"Hey there," I muttered, absently scratching the dragon under its chin. I gazed at the huddled Vikings and noticed Toothless trying to break through the wall of bodies to see his rider, but the villagers kept gently pushing him back.

"Toothless!" I called.

The Night Fury's head turned towards me, recognizing my voice. He took one last woeful look at the huddle and started limping towards me.

The Nadder chirped a greeting, but Toothless was busy trying to get his ruined saddle and twisted remains of the tailfin off of himself, with little luck. He moaned and flopped onto the ground, emerald green eyes staring imploringly up at me. I knelt down next to the dragon and scratched behind his ear flaps like I'd seen Hiccup do, but Toothless just warbled sadly. I didn't dare touch the rigging; most of it was still glowing a dull red from the heat of the explosion.

Suddenly, there was a thunk, and a terrible scream shattered the still air of the rocky beach. I jumped up, startled, and Toothless wailed as he covered his face with his front paws. Fishlegs looked like he wanted to faint, Snotlout screwed his eyes shut as he covered his ears, and the twins exchanged sullen looks.

Just as quickly as the scream started, it stopped, and our ears rang with the muted sounds of a gentle breeze and the waves crashing against the shore. I rushed back towards the group surrounding Hiccup at Stoick emerged, his face downcast.

"We need to get him to Gothi," he muttered, "but there's no way we can sail him back. He'll die of shock before we make it."

I ran up to him. "Sir, if we tie him to a large plank of wood and secure it to the dragons, we can fly him back quickly!"

Stoick looked at me carefully and nodded. "Aye. Spitelout!" Snotlout's father turned to face the chief. "You, Hoark, and Phlegma, look for the sturdiest board you find. The rest of you, gather as much rope from the ruined ships as possible!" There was a chorus of "Aye!" and the group of Vikings dispersed, giving me a clear view of Hiccup.

If his chest hadn't been rising and falling with his slight breaths, I would've thought he was dead. His skin was pale, his forehead covered with sweat, and his left leg had been cut off just below the knee, leaving a stump covered in a cloth soaked with blood.

I turned and beckoned the other teens over. I explained the plan, and Snotlout grumbled about having to do "actual work" (as if helping kill a dragon the size of a mountain wasn't considered work), until he looked at Hiccup's leg. He turned white as a sheet and didn't say anything after that.

A group of Vikings came over to us with several lengths of rope, a mostly-intact sail, and a large, jagged board, probably torn from the deck of a ship. Snotlout had his Monstrous Nightmare tear the sail in half with his claw, and Fishlegs laid it over the board as Stoick and Gobber carefully lifted Hiccup and placed him on top of the cloth. Fishlegs covered Hiccup's torso and lower body with the other half of the sail while two more Vikings lifted the board for me and Ruffnut to tie Hiccup to the board. I tried to make sure they were tight enough to keep him in place and loose enough to not be harmful, but my hands were shaking the entire time. We motioned the other dragons over, and then I remembered that Toothless couldn't fly. I turned to Stoick as Toothless hobbled over, but he spoke up before I had the chance.

"Don't worry, Astrid," he stated, "We have a couple of ships that are still sailable. We'll take the Night Fury with us."

I nodded as Toothless licked the larger man's hand in thanks. Stoick jumped in surprise.

I smiled. "He's just thanking you, Chief," I explained as Toothless looked at the man with wide, intelligent eyes, crooning softly.

Stoick hesitated a moment, then held his hand out, palm facing down. Toothless closed his eyes and pushed his snout into the chief's oversized mitt.

"This is what Hiccup was trying to show us...trying to show me," he whispered as Toothless moved back and looked back at Hiccup, whining sadly. Stoick sighed. "He tried to tell me he couldn't kill dragons...but I didn't listen. I only saw what I wanted him to be, not what he is and will become." Stoick looked at the limp figure on the board. "And now, because of my foolishness, his life will never be the same."

"Don't worry, chief," I replied, "Hiccup's strong. He'll get through anything thrown at him." Stoick sighed and nodded.

"Astrid!" Fishlegs called. I turned and saw that our four dragons each had a rope tied to their leg, the other end of each rope tied to a jagged plank on either end of the board. The other teens were mounted up and waiting for me.

"Fly safe, Astrid," Stoick called as I clambered onto the Nadder. I nodded and we took off carefully, letting the dragons navigate through the maze of sea stacks and out over open water towards Berk. I was determined not to lose another person I cared about.


	18. Chapter 18: Peace, Almost

**Chapter 18: Peace, Almost**

**_Astrid's POV_**

As we flew over the seemingly endless expanse of turquoise waves as fast as the dragons dared, I glanced over my shoulder at the unconscious figure swinging and bouncing slightly from the jostling of the dragons' movements. Every couple of minutes a soft moan would sound from the pale face of the boy who turned our world, _my_ world, upside down. The far end of the sheet was stained red with blood; I guessed the wound hadn't been cauterized completely, leaving part of it open and flowing.

I still wasn't quite sure what to think about it all; Hiccup finally killed a dragon, but not in the way I or anyone else expected, and now he'd have to learn how to walk on a prosthetic like Gobber's. Assuming he woke up, anyway.

I shook my head. _He __will__ wake up,_ I think to myself, and turn my attention back to the horizon in front of us.

_He has to wake up._

* * *

We reached Berk just after sundown. Luckily, there was enough cloud cover to block any moonlight that would reveal the dragons, so we reached Gothi's hut without incident.

The dragons carefully lowered the board onto the platform in front of her hut, hovering as best they could; the platform was much too small for them all to land on. I patted my Nadder's head in thanks, receiving a trill in return, and hopped off, pulling out my knife and cutting the ropes attached to the dragons.

"Go hide the dragons somewhere," I called to the other teens as I carefully cut the ropes holding Hiccup to the board, "I'll stay here with Hiccup."

Fishlegs looked uncertain as he replied, "And how are we going to explain where we were or how we got there?"

I paused; I hadn't thought of that.

Before I could make up my mind, however, the door to the hut opened and Gothi limped out, grumbling nonsense. She didn't even blink when she noticed the dragons, but one look at Hiccup made her eyes widen in shock. Gothi gently moved the sheet off of Hiccup and looked at his leg. She gestured at me to pick him up and bring him into her hut. I carefully slid my arms under him and lifted him up as gently as I could, but he still moaned in pain as his leg was jostled. I followed Gothi into her hut and placed Hiccup onto the bed she was standing beside. Gothi gestured for me to leave as she began gathering various herbs from jars scattered around the room. I cast one last glance at the boy on the bed before turning and leaving, closing the door behind me.

The other teens were still there, but the dragons weren't. "We just told them to hide in the forest for now," Fishlegs spoke up, seeing my questioning look, "but did you see how Gothi reacted? She seemed to acknowledge their presence, but didn't say anything!"

"Uh, Fishface, Gothi never says anything," Snotlout pointed out.

Fishlegs rolled his eyes in annoyance. I sighed heavily.

"She was probably more concerned about Hiccup," I stated, "We've done all we can for him. We should probably get some rest."

The other teens nodded and started heading down the steep path towards the main square. I glanced back at the hut for a moment before following.

I didn't have anywhere else to go, so I went to the house that, up until the day before, I called home. As I walked in, I glanced around at the familiar objects lining the walls, as if nothing had changed. The house was dark; I assumed my 'parents' had gone with the rest of the village to Dragon Island.

I grabbed a bit of bread from the kitchen before heading up the stairs to my room. I blinked in surprise as I opened the door and found that everything looked as if someone had gone through the place and tidied it up. The bed was made, the desk was cleared and orderly, and I assumed my clothes were all put away in the dresser.

I walked over to my bed and leaned my ax against the wall next to it. As I was undoing my braid, I noticed a note on my pillow. I picked it up, already guessing what it said.

_Astrid,_

_We know we parted ways on a sour note yesterday, but after seeing the disaster the Haddock boy caused, we think you still have a chance at claiming your rightful place as heir to Berk. Hopefully, you've calmed down some and returned home to find this note, meaning you can have a level head when you challenge the boy. We've gone with the rest of the village to destroy the dragons once and for all, and when we return everything will be as it should, with the Hoffersons claiming the throne and the Haddock boy exiled for treason._

_When all is said and done, we'll just pretend that the episode yesterday never happened and we can be a happy family again._

_Love,_

_Mom and Dad_

By the time I'd finished reading the letter, my hands were shaking with rage. Instead of apologizing for their behavior, my parents decided to seize control of my life again. I growled in frustration and crumpled the paper into a ball, throwing it at my desk. It bounced off and landed on the floor, but I didn't care. The thought briefly crossed my mind that the letter was written before the battle with the dragon queen, but I was too angry to really recognize that fact.

With a groan of dismay, I took off my armor and changed into more comfortable clothes. As I climbed into bed and pulled the blanket over me, I was sure it would be ages before I fell asleep. All the adrenalin from the fight in the ring to the battle with the queen must have worn me out more than I thought, because my eyes closed almost immediately, sending me into recurring dreams of a limp form falling into an explosion with a black Night Fury desperately diving towards it.

* * *

"Astrid?! ASTRID!"

I was woken up the next morning by a shrill scream, followed closely by a crushing hug that nearly cracked a rib.

"Mom…can't…breathe," I gasped.

My mother immediately released me and held me at arm's length, tears in her eyes. Once the fog of sleep wore off, I glared at her and turned my gaze away, wrenching my arms out of her grasp. I looked around the room and realized someone was missing.

"Where's Dad?" I asked sharply.

Mom flinched slightly at my actions, but replied, "He's in the Great Hall talking with Stoick and the council about Dragon Training."

I frowned and stared at her. "Why? Hiccup won fair and square," I grumbled, "And did you forget the part where he fought a dragon bigger than Berk and _won_?"

The older woman scowled at me. "Technically, he didn't do anything special. Anyone could've made a dragon shoot into the beast's mouth. If the dragon you were on were stronger, _you_ would've been the one to kill it, and without losing a limb in the process."

"So you're telling me," I started, standing up and pacing about the room agitatedly, "that Hiccup Haddock trained a dragon on his own without knowing what he was doing, used what he knew to help me and the other teens get to Dragon Island, saved the entire village from destruction single-handedly, without holding a grudge against us for treating him like yak dung his whole life, loses a leg, and all you care about is that it wasn't _me_ who did it?!" My voice rose with each sentence until I was shouting across the room.

Mom opened her mouth to speak, probably to shout back at me for raising my voice against her, but I cut her off before she could say anything. "No, I'm done. Hiccup doesn't deserve the crap that you - _we _\- have given him all these years. He is the bravest, most stubborn knucklehead I know; last name be damned. If you're too blind and proud to see that, then find yourself a new daughter."

"Astrid, please," Mom begged, but I had already changed into my regular blue shirt and armor, grabbed my ax, and stormed out of the house, slamming the door behind me.

I turned and found the Nadder from yesterday sitting in front of my house, preening. The dragon looked up at the noise from the door and chirped what I assumed was a greeting at me.

"Hey there…uh…girl?" I asked. The dragon hopped up to its feet and squawked happily, nuzzling my side with its head. I blinked in surprise, then cautiously stroked her snout, receiving a content trill in return.

Then I took a good look around the area, and noticed there were dragons _everywhere_. Brightly-colored Nadders were preening their wings in the shade of trees and houses, vibrant Nightmares were snoozing in various places, children were playing with some Zippleback heads, bulky Gronkles were casually eating small stones, and Terrible Terrors were screeching at each other and perching on rooftops. I wondered if the entire nest had followed us back.

I spotted Fishlegs with his Gronkle a little way away and jogged over to him, my Nadder following excitedly. "Fishlegs, what happened?" I asked, a little in awe of the sight of so many dragons peacefully roaming the village.

Fishlegs just shrugged with a small grin. "According to my dad, they all just decided to follow the ships home. Amazing, isn't it? It's like they know how we were defending ourselves from them as much as they were defending themselves from us!"

I winced a little at that, knowing full well how many Vikings took pride in slaying the creatures. Before I could say anything though, a couple of villagers came up to us and asked if we could help them find dragon companions.

Glancing at Fishlegs, who looked very excited at the prospect, I grinned, but knew I didn't even know half of what Hiccup did about dragons. Even so, we walked over to a group of dragons that were looking at us curiously and got to work.


	19. Chapter 19: Hofferson's Bane

**Chapter 19: Hofferson's Bane**

**_Hiccup's POV_**

The first time I regained consciousness I thought I was dead.

I was certain someone had given my left leg to a dragon to chew on. My fevered mind wondered offhandedly if Toothless had decided to pay me back for ruining his tail.

I groaned weakly and heard a voice call out my name. The voice was distinctly feminine, but sounded muddled as if my head was dunked in a barrel of water.

A damp cloth was placed on my forehead before I was returned to the bliss of obliviousness.

* * *

The second time I woke up I was certain I was dreaming.

There was still a distinct, stabbing pain in my left leg, but I managed to blearily open my eyes. On my left was a blurry blonde with blue spots, on my right was a black blot with acid green drops. I tried to speak, but the only sound that came out of my mouth was a harsh breath, quickly followed by a fit of coughs. A cup was placed near my mouth and I drank greedily, soothing my dry throat. My head fell back, my eyelids slid closed, and I once again slipped into unconsciousness.

* * *

The third time I was roused from the darkness, I was convinced I was hallucinating.

My eyes opened, and though my vision was still a bit hazy, I could clearly see Dad scratching Toothless' jaw and placing a basket of fish in front of him.

The sight was so alien it didn't fully register for a few seconds, and then the pain in my leg hit me like a Gronkle to the head and I was knocked back into the realm of dreamless sleep.

* * *

The fourth time I regained awareness, I remained conscious long enough to have a short conversation.

My left leg still felt as if it had been used as a war hammer, but it wasn't overwhelming my entire being this time. I moaned and opened my eyes.

I was lying on my bed, but the view above me was different from what I usually woke up to; I quickly realized Dad had moved my bed downstairs to the main level. I glanced to my right and discovered an empty fish basket turned on its side; probably food for Toothless. Said dragon was nowhere in the vicinity, but on my left sat a familiar giant of a man with a red beard almost bigger than me.

"Dad?" I croaked.

Stoick jumped and turned towards me. "Hiccup?! Yer awake!"

He raised his arms as if to hug me, then dropped them and cleared his throat awkwardly. "So, erm, h-how are ya doing?" he asked.

I raised my eyebrows slightly. "Well, I'm alive," I replied hoarsely, "How long have I been down?"

Dad took a breath before responding. "Two weeks."

My breath hitched. "Wh- why was I out so long?" I asked nervously.

The chief raised his oversized hand and rubbed the back of his neck nervously, one of the few traits we shared. It must have been horrible to talk about because he answered my question with another question; "What do ye remember?"

I frowned, concentrating. "I was in the ring facing the Nightmare," I started, "and then Toothless-" I stopped, realizing said Night Fury wasn't around. I started to panic. "Wait, where's Toothless?"

My dad put a hand on my shoulder to calm me down. "Relax, son," he said, "the dragon's with Astrid." I sighed in relief, letting my head fall back onto my pillow.

I wanted to talk more, but all the activity quickly wore out my exhausted body and I slipped into sleep once more.

* * *

"It's okay, Toothless, Stoick said he woke up earlier."

A moaning warble from my right answered the feminine voice, and I opened my eyes to see Toothless' big, round eyes staring at me with concern.

"Hey bud," I whispered hoarsely.

Toothless' ears flew straight up as he looked at me in surprise before barking joyfully and licking my face with his rough, slimy tongue, drenching my head in Night Fury saliva.

"Gah, Toothless!" I exclaimed, pushing the dragon away while wiping my face with my free hand. "Ugh, this will never wash out…"

Someone off to my left snorted, and I looked over to find Astrid sitting on the stool my Dad had occupied earlier, covering her mouth with her hand. She held up a cloth with her free hand, obviously trying to hold in a laugh. Something told me this wasn't the first time Toothless had decided to bathe me himself, and I had a feeling it wouldn't be the last time either.

I mumbled thanks as I grabbed the cloth and wiped my face off while Toothless jumped around, barking happily. The overenthusiastic dragon tripped over his own tail, falling towards me on the bed with a yelp. As soon as the dragon landed on my legs, pain shot up my left shin, causing black spots to appear in my vision. Someone yelled; it was probably me.

When my vision cleared and the stabbing pains reduced to sharp throbs, I gasped as I tried to catch my breath. My forehead was covered in sweat. Toothless whined and nudged my arm apologetically.

Astrid was on her feet next to me, looking alarmed. "Hiccup?" she whispered shakily.

I groaned and sat up, propping myself against the wall with my pillow behind me. "Wh-why does it hurt s-so much?" I gasped.

Astrid bit her lip as she glanced at the covers. I followed her gaze to my left foot…or, the flat space where my left foot should be. My heart pounded as I threw my furs off to find my left shin half as long as my right, ending in a swollen stump.

I stared at the shortened appendage in shock. Vikings lost limbs all the time; it's an occupational hazard. But, most Vikings don't even entertain the thought of gloriously losing a limb until they've gone through several dragon raids.

There I was, fourteen winters old, and I had a permanent reminder of the horrible beast that nearly destroyed the majority of the population of Berk.

"Well," I croaked, "It's only fun if you get a scar out of it, right?"

Astrid stared at me as if I'd lost my mind. Then she punched me in the arm…hard.

"Ow! Why would you do that?!" I protested, rubbing my arm.

"That's for almost dying," Astrid growled. I opened my mouth to argue that I hadn't planned on almost dying or losing a limb, but before I could, the door to the house swung open, Dad stepping in and closing it behind him.

"Ah, Hiccup, you're awake again," he said, grabbing another stool and walking towards us, "Astrid, good, we have things to discuss."

I glanced at Astrid, confused. She took a breath and avoided my gaze. I turned back to Dad. "What's going on?"

Stoick sighed, taking his helmet off his head and placing it on the table nearby while setting the stool on the floor and seating himself. "The day we returned from the nest, Halvar Hofferson came up to me and asked for a word in private." he began.

Uh oh, I thought, tenderly rubbing the area above my sore stump.

Dad must have guessed what I was thinking, because he shook his head and chuckled. "I followed Halvar to his home and allowed him to speak. He wants to end the blood feud."

My eyes widened in surprise. I looked at Astrid, but she was still staring at the floor, her face unreadable. I turned back to Dad and asked, "How?"

"That's the tricky part," he sighed, massaging his temple, "Halvar saw how well you trained the Night Fury" -Toothless perked up a bit, and I scratched him behind his ear flap, earning a small purr of pleasure- "and is hoping that you could do the same with the Flightmare."

"Oh," I muttered, "Is that all?" Then another thought occurred to me. "Wait, what does Mrs. Hofferson think about all this?"

Stoick glanced at Astrid, who held out a crumpled ball of parchment. I took it and unraveled the note, reading it quickly. I winced, handed the note back to Astrid, and turned to Dad. "Why is she so determined to get rid of me? I thought Mr. Hofferson would have more of a grudge; she's not even from Berk originally."

"That's just it," Astrid grumbled, "According to Dad, the night they got married Mom's village was raided by dragons, completely destroying the island. She and Dad barely made it out alive, and they were the only ones to escape."

I frowned as the dots started connecting in my head. "So, between her village, Finn, and Gunnar, I'm guessing your mother really hates dragons, and since I've ended the war against them, she's taking her anger out on me."

Dad nodded. "Aye, and Halvar has tried arguing with her but, well, Ragnhild's about as stubborn as they come."

I took a deep breath. "Okay, how long until the Flightmare returns?"

"Well, it should be sometime in the spring," Stoick answered, "So anywhere from two to six months."

I glanced down at my leg, or what was left of it. "Let's hope it's closer to six," I muttered.

"Gobber's been working on a prosthetic for you," Astrid said, noticing the gloomy look on my face, "He said he'd be finished with it soon, but you probably won't be able to put it on until the swelling goes down."

I nodded absentmindedly, running through everything I'd just learned in my head. There were still some things that just didn't add up. "From what I understand, Astrid's mom hates me, but I still don't get why Mr. Hofferson is acting so neutral. He lost both his older brother and his son to dragons; why doesn't he hold a grudge?"

Astrid shook her head sadly. "Dad was upset after Finn died, but he was able to distract himself from the pain by training Gunnar. Then Gunnar's accident happened, and Dad changed. Mom took over my training, and Dad just sort of faded to the background. Since I'm the only remaining Hofferson child, the family name ends with me. I think Dad just wants the Hoffersons to be remembered as honorable as possible before he leaves for Valhalla."

It made sense in a depressing sort of way. Astrid was literally the clans last chance at redemption, and if she failed, the Hofferson name would be tarnished in Berk's history forever.

Few families in the village were able to have more than one child survive past his or her first winter. Even fewer were the families that didn't lose a child during a dragon raid. Berk's population had been slowly dwindling over the years as dragon attacks became more frequent. Many villagers had been prepared for the dragons to completely destroy the island in their lifetime.

Until I came along and discovered the truth.

I took a deep breath, settling my resolve. "Okay, let's train ourselves a Flightmare."

* * *

**I apologize for taking so long once again. I was really hoping to have this story finished before it turns a year old next month, but I'm not certain it'll happen that way. Life got kinda crazy the last little bit; my grandfather passed away and I was more concerned with spending time with family than writing. I'm not entirely happy with the way this chapter went, but I figured something was better than nothing. And for those that play the game, this chapters title was inspired by the Flightmare in Rise of Berk of the same name.**

**I really hope the additions to the previous chapters help clear some things up. I'm still trying to figure out this whole storytelling thing, and I'm writing each chapter as I go. Thank you to everyone that's stuck around so long. It's been a crazy year, but we're picking up steam now.**

**My thoughts are with anyone affected by the virus sweeping across the world. I'm super lucky to have an "****essential****" job that keeps me occupied and fed. Stay strong, we'll get through this eventually.**


	20. Chapter 20: Relationships

**AN: Hoo boy, today it's been exactly a year since I uploaded the first chapter of Rivalry. To 'celebrate,' I tried my hardest to crank out a chapter over the weekend. Not gonna lie, the first bit had me tearing up as I wrote it, but hopefully it makes sense and is somewhat enjoyable. With this chapter, the story now has over 30,000 words (not including ANs; I deleted most of those when I rewrote the first 18 chapters), which is kind of mind-blowing to me.**

**A couple of important notes: I KNOW MEATLUG IS A GIRL! I see a lot of comments on fics that came out shortly after the first movie about it (and dragon names; seriously, we didn't know those at the time those fics were written, so the authors took some creative liberties!). _Gift of the Night Fury_ is canonically where Fishlegs discovers Meatlug's true gender, and since the events of that special haven't happened (yet *wink wink*) in this AU, I'm going to align the belief that Meatlug is male with canon.**

**Sorry about the mini-rant, but if it didn't happen I guarantee there'd be at least one review/message about it. Thanks for understanding. :)**

* * *

**Chapter 20: Relationships**

**_Astrid's POV_**

After talking through my Dad's proposal with Hiccup and Stoick, I grudgingly left the Haddock house and trudged my way back to my own. It was dark out, but having lived in the village all my life I knew my way around like the back of my hand.

The past two weeks had been absolute Hel on Midgard. Neither of my parents wanted me to see Hiccup and fought every night about dissolving the blood feud. The only time they had civil conversations was when Stoick was present, and even then, you could taste the tension in the room. Stoick and my father were as pleasant as possible, but Mom was refusing to act any warmer than a frozen Icelandic cod. She didn't even want me in on the discussions, but Dad insisted that I was practically an adult and could learn a thing or two.

I also had the headache of dealing with my own feelings, which I'm not used to doing, and with my feelings about Hiccup being the biggest frustration, I couldn't use my regular methods of axing the problem or destroying trees until I felt better. I couldn't even have my own dragon anywhere near the house; Mom forced me to leave her in the forest at night. The Nadder, who I have yet to find a name for, somehow senses my guilt every night and nuzzles me until I smile, chirps happily, and proceeds to her small nest on the edge of the woods.

A month ago, life was simple: kill dragons, usurp Hiccup, win dragon training, appease my mother, and avenge my brother. But of course, Hiccup had to go and shoot down a Night Fury, thwart my attempts of winning dragon training, enrage my mother, and kill the giant monster causing all the dragon raids, all while somehow chipping away the rocky exterior of my heart with that stupid dopey grin of his. Now all I want to do is either be around Hiccup or in the air on my Nadder…or both. The guy's starting to drive me crazy in more ways than one.

I shook my head in agitation. I had bigger problems at the moment.

As I neared my house, I could clearly hear the voices of my parents, shouting at each other. I'm sure the neighbors have been getting as much sleep as I have with all the yelling and screaming; which is to say, none at all.

By the time I'd reached and opened the door, the house had gone silent. At the end of every argument, Mom would storm off to their bedroom, and Dad would sit and stare at the fire for a while. There was also a bedroll in the corner close to the door opposite of the stairs; Mom refused to let him sleep with her after the first quarrel.

I went to the kitchen to grab a bit of bread and a mug of yak's milk before sitting down on a chair next to Dad. He turned slightly and looked at me, dark circles under his piercing blue eyes, almost mirrors of mine. His red-brown hair and beard were scruffy and unkempt. I'd offered to let him use my bed while I slept on the floor several times, but he'd always refuse, insisting that I needed rest more than he did.

"Astrid," he started softly, "What did Hiccup have to say?"

I swallowed the bite of bread I was chewing and replied, "He's willing to try, but neither of us really know how to go about actually training the Flightmare. Toothless was one thing- the Night Fury showed up almost every raid- but the Flightmare only comes once a decade, and Hiccup wasn't allowed outside the last time it came."

Dad nodded and returned his gaze to the fire. "If anyone can do it, It's Hiccup."

A comfortable yet tense silence followed his words. After the fiasco at the Nest, nearly every villager started looking at Hiccup differently. I could almost imagine his face when he finds out he's considered a hero.

I had just finished my snack when Dad spoke, almost too quiet for me to hear; "Ragnhild wants to leave."

My eyebrow rose. "Leave? Like, a trip?"

"Nay," Dad shook his head. "The household."

I inhaled sharply, clasping a hand to my mouth in shock. Viking couples very rarely split up, save for the occasional death by dragon or Outcast raid, and arranged marriages weren't common on Berk. And the look of hurt and anguish on my dad's face told of how much he loved Mom, no matter how difficult she can be at times, and how much it'd hurt him to see her leave. "Where-" My voice cracked. "Where would she go?"

Dad took a deep breath and looked at me with tears in his eyes. "She- she said she'd leave Berk on the next trader ship that comes through."

Oh, Gods. I knew she was angry, especially at me, but to leave Berk completely…

I stood up and wrapped my arms around my father, holding him tightly. He returned the gesture eagerly, sniffles already emerging from both of us. "Do you know when she's leaving?" I asked, my voice shaking.

A sob escaped my father's mouth before he replied, "With the next trader ship that comes in tomorrow and leaves the day after."

We both broke down after that, sobbing into each other's shoulder. It would be much later that I realized sobs were coming from my parents' room as well.

* * *

Berk is a fairly small, tight-knit community, so when something happens, it doesn't take very long for the whole village to hear about it.

I quickly grew irritated with all the pitiful and sympathetic looks I was receiving, so after I took a small basket of fish to my Nadder (I really need to give her a name), I walked over to Hiccup's home.

I knocked twice, and without waiting for an answer, I opened the door and stepped inside. Toothless looked up from the corner he was resting in, smiled his gummy smile at me, and bounded over. I absently scratched behind his ear flap as I walked over to the chair next to Hiccup's bed.

Hiccup looked up from the Book of Dragons. "Hey As-" His brow furrowed. "Astrid, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I muttered, "Find anything useful?"

Hiccup scowled at the Book. "Not really. Extremely territorial, freezes victims in terror, extremely dangerous… The usual stuff. I don't think there really is a way to prepare for this thing unless you can remember something that could be helpful." He glanced sideways at me.

I shook my head. "I was so young, and I was so worried about Finn, it's all kind of blurry."

"Understandable," Hiccup said, returning his gaze to the Book of Dragons, "Going through the rest of this book though, we really need to rewrite it. 'Kill on sight' probably isn't the best way to earn a dragon's trust."

I snorted and Hiccup cracked a grin, somehow managing to help me relax with a simple, stupid joke.

We started idly chatting about anything from flying, to Hiccup's attempts at winning Toothless' friendship, to their first flight. We were chuckling at Hiccup's story of the Terrible Terror trying to steal Toothless' fish when the door opened and Snotlout came sauntering in, followed by Fishlegs and the Twins. Hiccup blinked in surprise.

"Hey, cuz!" Snotlout greeted, pulling a spare chair from the table, setting it down, and leaning against the wall with his head behind his hands.

"Uh, h-hi, guys," Hiccup stuttered, "W-what are you doing here?"

"Uh, duh," Ruffnut drawled, "After watching you blow up the Red Death, we wanna help you blow up more stuff!" She banged her helmet against her twins.

"Red Death?" Hiccup questioned, looking at Fishlegs.

Fishlegs explained, "That's what the village started calling the giant dragon at the nest since it had red spots all over it and would've caused our death."

I chuckled. "And I thought Toothless wasn't obvious enough."

"Hey!" Hiccup protested, "At least he _has_ a name!"

I raised my eyebrows at him as the Twins _ooh_'ed. "I've had bigger problems to deal with, like a certain unconscious Viking that kept getting a fever after losing his leg."

Hiccup stared at me; eyes wide in surprise. "Th-that was you?"

"Oh yeah," Snotlout snorted, "Astrid was practically living here while you were dead to the world. I kept telling her to forget about you and hang with a more manly Viking like me." He flexed his muscles, kissing his left bicep.

"Snotlout," I growled, my face burning.

"And, ah, I think I'll leave the blowing-things-up to you two for now," Hiccup said to the Twins, "I'd rather not lose another limb before I turn sixteen."

Tuffnut shrugged. "Your loss. I'll just get Belch to help."

"Belch?" I questioned.

"His head of the Zippleback," Ruffnut stated, "Belch is the sparky head, I ride the gassy head and named it Barf."

"That's, actually kind of clever," Hiccup mused. The Twins high-fived.

"Yeah, well, Hookfang is five thousand pounds of flaming muscle," Snotlout boasted.

"Five thousand and forty pounds actually," Fishlegs corrected.

Snotlout grumbled something unintelligible; probably something like "Shut up, Fishface."

"Fishlegs?" Hiccup asked, "What'd you name your Gronkle?"

Fishlegs grinned sheepishly. "I named him Meatlug because-"

"Because he has to lug around a hunk of meat called Fishlegs, ah haha!" Snotlout chortled.

The husky blonde glared at him. "No, because I thought it suited his personality!"

I stared at the bedsheets, thinking about my dragon and trying to find a name that felt right.

"Astrid?"

I jerked up and looked at Hiccup, who was looking at me with concern. "You sure you're okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah, just trying to think of a name."

"Well," Hiccup said slowly, "The yellow scales against the blue kind of look like lightning, don't they? Like a storm, or something."

"Storm…" I muttered. And then it hit me; how she was always begging to fly, doing all sorts of crazy stunts with or without me on her back. "Stormfly!"

There was a happy trill that came from outside through the door that stood ajar, and a bright yellow eye peered through and looked at me happily.

"I think she likes it," Hiccup smiled.

The euphoria of finally coming up with a name for my dragon almost overtook the pain that was slowly tearing my family apart.

Almost.

But for the moment, I was content to just talk and laugh with my friends and figured we'd all get through anything thrown at us.

Together.

* * *

**AN: Another quick note: I did a bit of research (not extensive, I'm going off of information from a single site that got it from a book), and it turns out that Viking divorces are relatively straightforward. I'm not gonna say much about it because spoilers, but there we are.**


	21. Chapter 21: Healing

**Chapter 21: Healing**

**_Hiccup's POV_**

The next day, Gobber lumbered into my house, holding a bundle in his arms.

"One new leg and modified saddle, fresh from the forge!" he announced.

I had been doodling in my notebook, looking at the Flightmare's page in the Book of Dragons and brainstorming ideas with little luck. It's hard to prepare for a dragon you've never seen, and even harder when said dragon only appears once a decade; the Book of Dragons had about as much information on the Flightmare as it did on the Night Fury. I looked up, setting aside the notebook and welcoming the distraction.

Gobber unraveled the bundle on the table next to my bed, where he revealed a wooden cup attached to a device consisting of two pieces of metal with a spring in between. There was also a brand new saddle and a bright red tailfin with a white skull painted on.

I blinked in surprise. "You made a whole new tailfin?"

Gobber chuckled. "Aye; I did teach you everything you know, after all, an' you left yer designs in the back of the forge. Didn't take much to tweak the pedal for a fake limb."

Right. Between Astrid sneaking up on me in the cove and the catastrophe in the Ring with the Nightmare, I kind of forgot about the traitorous evidence in my workshop; it's a wonder no one bothered to look in there.

I pulled the furs off of my lower body, staring at the bandaged stump of my left leg. Gobber patted my shoulder sympathetically.

"I'm sorry lad," he said softly, "Losing a limb is never a picnic, especially at yer age." Gobber picked up the prosthetic. "Ready to get back on yer feet…er, foot?" He scratched the back of his neck with his hook sheepishly.

I cracked a small smile at Gobber's poor choice of words. "As ready as I'll ever be."

Truthfully, being stuck in bed since waking up was driving me crazy. My dad was keeping an abnormally close watch on me to make sure I didn't get out of bed; which was worlds better than being ignored, but cabin fever was starting to hit and I desperately wanted to get back outside and up in the air. Not that he had much to worry about; being down half a limb kind of hindered my ability to walk.

Gobber set the fake limb down on my bed and nodded at me. I took a breath and fit my stump into the cup. The limb fit like a glove, but I wasn't sure how it would stay on when I lifted my leg to take a step until Gobber, seemingly reading my mind, handed me a short length of rope and gestured at the pant leg rolled up past my knee. Swallowing nervously, I rolled the pant leg down until it covered the cup, wrapped the rope around the limb, and tied a firm knot. Instantly, my stump flared up with a slow burn of protest, but I ignored the pain and swung my legs over the side of my bed.

With my foot and the metal end of the prosthetic on the floor, my stump settled slightly into the cup, causing the burn to throb painfully against the wooden edges. I took a couple of breaths as the pain slowly decreased, and as soon as it had gone down to a level I felt I could handle, I stood up, keeping all my weight on my right leg and holding onto the bedpost for balance.

I don't know how to describe what I was feeling at that moment. It was bizarre; I was standing on two legs, mostly, but I only had the feeling of one foot touching the ground; the other limb ended in a light pressure where flesh met wood. I looked over at Gobber and Toothless, who were watching me carefully, and smiled hesitantly, though I was sure it was more of a grimace.

I carefully lifted my left leg, moved it forward, and lowered it back to the floor. Swallowing nervously, I slowly shifted my weight forward so I was balanced between both legs.

Instantly, my stubbed leg screamed in protest and I fell forward, landing awkwardly on a black, scaly neck; Toothless had darted forward the second I had started falling, whining in concern.

"Thanks, bud," I gasped, allowing the Night Fury to nudge me back onto the bed, crooning worriedly with pupils blown wide.

I tried to undo the knot holding the prosthetic to my flesh, but my hands were shaking so much Gobber had to undo it for me and set the fake limb aside.

"I'll go get Gothi," he sighed, "You stay…put. There. You know what I mean." I was about to protest that I had just demonstrated how I couldn't go anywhere even if I wanted to, but Gobber had already lumbered out the door with his trademark _tap-thump_ rhythm.

The pressure on my stump from the bandages was starting to irritate my already-sore limb, so I unwrapped the cloth and grimaced in disgust. The rounded end of the shorter appendage was an angry red and swollen, making me groan in misery; at this rate, I'd be lucky to be out of bed by the time the Flightmare arrived, let alone walking on my power.

Toothless whined sadly as he looked at the irritated skin before looking up at me with big, intelligent eyes. I patted his head to try and comfort him, but he kept staring at my leg as if he was responsible for my pain. The sleek dragon leaned forward, sniffing the wound, and then licked it as gently as he could. My breath hitched as the contact with the coarse, wet tongue elicited a brief flare of pain before cooling into a dull ache.

I stared at my leg in astonishment for a few seconds before moving my gaze to Toothless. The Night Fury nodded in satisfaction and flashed his pink gums at me in a grin as the redness located on the end of the limb started to slowly fade and the swelling gradually reduced to a less worrying level.

Before I could say anything, the door opened once again to admit Gobber with Gothi hobbling along behind him. The wizened healer lumbered over to me and looked at my leg carefully. Her eyes widened slightly as she glanced from me to my leg to Toothless, who had scooted back to allow room for Gothi to work with a slightly smug look on his draconic face. Gothi's eyebrows raised as she proceeded to poke at my stump while glancing at my face to gauge my reaction; aside from the odd pressure of the numbed appendage being prodded, the stump felt less like a dragon was chewing on it and more like it was submerged in water.

Gothi stepped back to toss some sand on the floor and trace her unique runes. Very few in the village had the patience to learn another set of symbols, so Gobber usually ended up translating for the elder.

"She says that it appears Night Furry-ow! Fury, fury!-saliva has healing…proportions?" Gobber scratched his head in confusion for a second before Gothi whacked him with her staff again. "Oh, properties! Night Fury saliva has healing properties. Tha' makes more sense."

Gothi smiled at me as she gestured to the prosthetic that laid abandoned on the floor, pat Toothless' head, and wandered back out into the rare sunshine Berk had been blessed with recently.

Gobber helped me tie the prosthetic onto my stump again and watched as I gripped the bedpost determinedly, pushing myself to a standing position with a warble of encouragement from Toothless.

The first attempt I had been in too much pain to notice anything substantial, but now I had this bizarre feeling of pressure at a different height on each leg and a vague lack of balance on the left 'foot.' Taking a deep breath, I slowly put one foot in front of the other, Toothless acting as a sort of crutch on my left as I limped towards the door for the first time since the day I went head to head with Astrid in the training arena.

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**I hope everyone's doing okay; there's an awful lot of crap going on around the world lately. Part of the reason I started writing this fic was because I felt like I belonged in this community and wanted to give back; unfortunately, there are people who would take advantage of that and use it for their own purposes. If anyone needs an ear, my message box is open. I'm not too good at expressing myself and I get self-conscious about stuff like this, but I'm always willing to listen, even if you just need someone to vent to.**

**As of 6/13/2020, I've gone back through every chapter with Grammarly to try and improve the quality of writing. Unfortunately, the areas I need the most help with require a paid subscription, and since this is purely a hobby, I don't consider it worth the money, but I like to be sure my writing is as clean as grammatically possible.**


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